Agony Quote by John L. Lewis
“The workers of the nation were tired of waiting for corporate industry to right their economic wrongs, to alleviate their social agony and to grant them their political rights. Despairing of fair treatment, they resolved to do something for themselves.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Labor Rally, United States, 1940s
Workers, frustrated by corporate neglect, decided to take collective action for economic, social, and political justice.
In simple terms: Workers chose self‑help over waiting for corporations.
Key Takeaway
Act collectively for rights.
Themes
labor
justice
collective action
political empowerment
Mood
determined
hopeful
Type
activist
motivational
When to use this quote
- organizing strikes
- community meetings
- policy advocacy
Key Concepts
unionism
economic inequality
social solidarity
Questions to Reflect On
- What concrete steps can you take to improve your community?
- How can solidarity amplify individual efforts?
A Different Perspective
Corporate change may be slow and face resistance.
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
