--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To make a revolution, people must not…" description: "\"To make a revolution, people must not only struggle against existing institutions. They must make a philosophical/ spiritual leap and become more 'huma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/grace-lee-boggs-7776_change_to-make-a-revolution-people-must-not-onl_3161064.png" --- # To make a revolution, people must not only struggle… ![“To make a revolution, people must not only struggle against existing institutions. They must make a philosophical/ spiritual leap and become more 'human' human beings. In order to change/ transform the world, they must change/ transform themselves.” quote by Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/grace-lee-boggs-7776_change_to-make-a-revolution-people-must-not-onl_3161064.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/grace-lee-boggs-7776_change_to-make-a-revolution-people-must-not-onl_3161064.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/grace-lee-boggs-7776_change_to-make-a-revolution-people-must-not-onl_3161064.png) > “To make a revolution, people must not only struggle against existing institutions. They must make a philosophical/ spiritual leap and become more 'human' human beings. In order to change/ transform the world, they must change/ transform themselves.” [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Transformation of society requires inner change; personal growth fuels collective revolution. **In simple terms:** Change yourself to change the world. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner growth before external action. Themes social change personal development spirituality revolution Mood hopeful determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - activism - community organizing - personal therapy - education reform Key Concepts humanism self‑transformation collective action Questions to Reflect On - How can personal growth be translated into effective collective action? - What practices nurture a deeper humanity? A Different Perspective Inner change alone cannot dismantle entrenched power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Leap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leap/) [Make Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-philosophical-3292477/) [Make Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-revolution-599510/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Revolution People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution-people-560174/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The purpose of a liberal education is to make you philosophical enough to accept the fact that you will never make much money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-purpose-of-a-liberal-education-is-to-make-you-philosophical/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is a form of poetic and esthetic and moral genius necessary to make philosophical issues truly incandesce for students, and even though I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/there-is-a-form-of-poetic-and-esthetic-and-moral-genius-necessary-to/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [“Music is playing. We will, we will rock you. But no one will be rocked here. There will be no revolution. People are too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/music-is-playing-we-will-we-will-rock-you-but-no-one-will-be-rocked/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [Reform is for people who have government connections, revolution is for the people!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/reform-is-for-people-who-have-government-connections-revolution-is/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [What role did the Internet play in the Egyptian Revolution? People will be arguing about the answer to that question for decades if not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/what-role-did-the-internet-play-in-the-egyptian-revolution-people/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) > [“The good news for organizers who want to help build the political revolution is that people really are just waiting for you to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-bond/the-good-news-for-organizers-who-want-to-help-build-the-political/) [Becky Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becky-bond/) > [Today America's on the wrong side of the world revolution. What I mean by that is, the world revolution is the people's revolution, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/today-america-s-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-world-revolution-what-i-mean/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [When I started, rock and roll itself was the basic revolution to people of my age and situation. We needed something loud and clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/when-i-started-rock-and-roll-itself-was-the-basic-revolution-to/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“I stressed that I did not want to be treated like a hero. I was only one member of the revolutionary masses who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wael-ghonim/i-stressed-that-i-did-not-want-to-be-treated-like-a-hero-i-was-only/) [Wael Ghonim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wael-ghonim/) > [At the end of the day good will prevail. If it needs war or revolution, its up to the people to earn their freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-the-end-of-the-day-good-will-prevail-if-it-needs-war-or-revolution/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To take part in the African revolution, it is not enough to write a revolutionary song. You must fashion the revolution with the people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-sekou-toure/to-take-part-in-the-african-revolution-it-is-not-enough-to-write-a/) [Ahmed Sekou Toure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-sekou-toure/) > [ The main issue \[of the Scientific Revolution\] is that the people in the industrialised countries are getting richer, and those in the non-industrialised countries… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/the-main-issue-of-the-scientific-revolution-is-that-the-people-in-the/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [Simon Bolivar is the leader of the revolution of this land. He is the leader of the social revolution, the people's revolution, the historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/simon-bolivar-is-the-leader-of-the-revolution-of-this-land-he-is-the/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [Usually, in any revolution people are focused on who wants to have the most power. But the most important thing is the laws that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirin-ebadi/usually-in-any-revolution-people-are-focused-on-who-wants-to-have-the/) [Shirin Ebadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirin-ebadi/) > [Only since the Industrial Revolution have most people worked in places away from their homes or been left to raise small children without the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/only-since-the-industrial-revolution-have-most-people-worked-in/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) ## More by Grace Lee Boggs > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [I think that rebellions arise out of anger, and they're very short-lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-that-rebellions-arise-out-of-anger-and-they-re-very-short/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [I think that education today is a form of child abuse. The natural tendency of children is to solve problems, but we try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-that-education-today-is-a-form-of-child-abuse-the-natural/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [I believe that we are at the point now, in the United States, where a movement is beginning to emerge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-believe-that-we-are-at-the-point-now-in-the-united-states-where-a/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [I think at the time, my radicalization was not through growing up Chinese, but through the role that the black people were playing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-at-the-time-my-radicalization-was-not-through-growing-up/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [We urgently need a paradigm shift in our concept of the purposes and practices of education. We need to leave behind the concept of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/we-urgently-need-a-paradigm-shift-in-our-concept-of-the-purposes-and/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [This capitalist society has not lasted forever; it's only a few hundred years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/this-capitalist-society-has-not-lasted-forever-it-s-only-a-few/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [Building community is to the collective as spiritual practice is to the individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/building-community-is-to-the-collective-as-spiritual-practice-is-to/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [We need to do what I call visionary organizing. Recognize that in every crisis, people do not respond like a school of fish. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/we-need-to-do-what-i-call-visionary-organizing-recognize-that-in/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [I think we have to understand that the nation-state became powerful in the wake of the French Revolution, whereas the nation-state has become powerless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-we-have-to-understand-that-the-nation-state-became-powerful/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [People are aware that they cannot continue in the same old way but are immobilized because they cannot imagine an alternative. We need a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/people-are-aware-that-they-cannot-continue-in-the-same-old-way-but/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [A revolution that is based on the people exercising their creativity in the midst of devastation is one of the great historical contributions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/a-revolution-that-is-based-on-the-people-exercising-their-creativity/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [People in Detroit aren't just urban gardening. They're starting a new mode of education. They're trying to give children the education to be "solutionaries"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/people-in-detroit-aren-t-just-urban-gardening-they-re-starting-a-new/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [I think people are really looking for some way whereby we can grow our souls rather than our economy. I think that at some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-people-are-really-looking-for-some-way-whereby-we-can-grow/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [Being a victim of oppression in the United States is not enough to make you revolutionary, just as dropping out of your mother's womb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/being-a-victim-of-oppression-in-the-united-states-is-not-enough-to/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) [Explore all 87 Grace Lee Boggs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To make a revolution, people must not only struggle against existing institutions. 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