--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Political agitation, by the passions it…" description: "\"Political agitation, by the passions it arouses or the convictions it engenders, may in fact stimulate men to the violation of the law. Detestation of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/learned-hand-5343_agitation_political-agitation-by-the-passions-it-a_945848.png" --- # Political agitation, by the passions it arouses or the… ![“Political agitation, by the passions it arouses or the convictions it engenders, may in fact stimulate men to the violation of the law. Detestation of existing policies is easily transformed into forcible resistance of the authority which puts them in execution, and it would be folly to disregard…” quote by Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/learned-hand-5343_agitation_political-agitation-by-the-passions-it-a_945848.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/learned-hand-5343_agitation_political-agitation-by-the-passions-it-a_945848.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/088/learned-hand-5343_agitation_political-agitation-by-the-passions-it-a_945848.png) > “Political agitation, by the passions it arouses or the convictions it engenders, may in fact stimulate men to the violation of the law. Detestation of existing policies is easily transformed into forcible resistance of the authority which puts them in execution, and it would be folly to disregard the causal relation between the two. Yet to assimilate agitation, legitimate as such, with direct incitement to violent resistance, is to disregard the tolerance of all methods of political agitation which in normal times is a safeguard of free government.” [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political agitation can inspire both lawful protest and violent resistance, but conflating the two undermines free speech protections. **In simple terms:** Agitation may lead to lawbreaking, but not all agitation is violent. Key Takeaway Distinguish protest from incitement. Themes free speech political protest law civil liberties Mood cautious analytical Type legal philosophical When to use this quote - public demonstrations - online activism - legislative debate - court rulings Key Concepts civil rights legal theory government authority Questions to Reflect On - When does protest become a threat? - How can law protect both order and dissent? A Different Perspective Aggressive rhetoric can be misinterpreted as incitement, risking suppression of legitimate dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation/) [Agitation Legitimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation-legitimate-1650511/) [Agitation Passions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation-passions-1650514/) [Assimilate Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assimilate-agitation-1650513/) [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Disregard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disregard/) [Execution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/execution/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Free government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-government/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Incitement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incitement/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Normal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normal/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-agitation-1650512/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) [Transformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformed/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Violation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violation/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [The feelings of our heart, the agitation of our passions, the vehemence of our affections, dissipate all its conclusions, and reduce the profound philosopher…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-feelings-of-our-heart-the-agitation-of-our-passions-the-vehemence/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The short lesson that comes out of long experience in political agitation is something like this: all the motive power in all of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jay-chapman/the-short-lesson-that-comes-out-of-long-experience-in-political/) [John Jay Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jay-chapman/) > [Everyone knows that on any given day there are energies slumbering in him which the incitement's of that day do not call forth. Compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/everyone-knows-that-on-any-given-day-there-are-energies-slumbering-in/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The national media which I consider to be very racist against European Americans and I think they have caused the incitement of African Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duke/the-national-media-which-i-consider-to-be-very-racist-against/) [David Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duke/) > [If the saying "the Temple Mount in our hands," is portrayed as incitement to the police, there's no need to change the saying, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uri-orbach/if-the-saying-the-temple-mount-in-our-hands-is-portrayed-as/) [Uri Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uri-orbach/) > [The greatest incitement to guilt is the hope of sinning with impunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-greatest-incitement-to-guilt-is-the-hope-of-sinning-with-impunity/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Some may find them merely diverting melodies. Others may find them incitements to Red revolution. And who will say if either or both is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/some-may-find-them-merely-diverting-melodies-others-may-find-them/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [ “\[T\]o read was precisely to enter another world, which was not the reader's own, and come back refreshed, ready to bear with equanimity the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/t-o-read-was-precisely-to-enter-another-world-which-was-not-the/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. Every advance into knowledge opens new prospects, and produces new incitements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/curiosity-is-one-of-the-permanent-and-certain-characteristics-of-a-2/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Prejudice and passion and suspicion are more dangerous than the incitement of self-interest or the most stubborn adherence to real differences of opinion regarding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elihu-root/prejudice-and-passion-and-suspicion-are-more-dangerous-than-the/) [Elihu Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elihu-root/) > [Allow me to add that it is my conviction that the contents of Der Stuermer as such were not (incitement). During the whole 20…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-streicher/allow-me-to-add-that-it-is-my-conviction-that-the-contents-of-der/) [Julius Streicher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-streicher/) > [Success: a marvelous stimulant, bubbling with inspiration and incitement. But for all except the few who are strong and steadfast, there lurks beneath the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/success-a-marvelous-stimulant-bubbling-with-inspiration-and/) [Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/) > [Palestinians need to stop the incitement. They need to stop that kind of activity. But at the same time, there is a need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/palestinians-need-to-stop-the-incitement-they-need-to-stop-that-kind/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Netanyahu is no king, his government sows division and incitement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-gantz/netanyahu-is-no-king-his-government-sows-division-and-incitement/) [Benny Gantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-gantz/) > [“Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-itself-for-belief-and-if/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) ## More by Learned Hand > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [When I say that a thing is true, I mean that I cannot help believing it... But...I do not venture to assume that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/when-i-say-that-a-thing-is-true-i-mean-that-i-cannot-help-believing/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > ['I beseech ye . . . , think that ye may be mistaken.' I should like to have that written over the portals of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/i-beseech-ye-think-that-ye-may-be-mistaken-i-should-like-to-have-that/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [If the prosecution of crime is to be conducted with so little regard for that protection which centuries of English law have given to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/if-the-prosecution-of-crime-is-to-be-conducted-with-so-little-regard/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken." I should like to have that written over the portals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/i-beseech-ye-in-the-bowels-of-christ-think-that-ye-may-be-mistaken-i/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [What seems fair enough against a squalid huckster of bad liquor may take on a different face, if used by government determined to suppress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/what-seems-fair-enough-against-a-squalid-huckster-of-bad-liquor-may/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [The spirit of liberty is the spirit of him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned ... .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/the-spirit-of-liberty-is-the-spirit-of-him-who-near-two-thousand/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [I had rather take my chance that some traitors will escape detection than spread abroad a spirit of general suspicion and distrust, which accepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/i-had-rather-take-my-chance-that-some-traitors-will-escape-detection/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [The successful competitor, having been urged to compete, must not be turned upon when he wins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/the-successful-competitor-having-been-urged-to-compete-must-not-be/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [Words are not pebbles in alien juxtaposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/words-are-not-pebbles-in-alien-juxtaposition/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [It is often hard to secure unanimity about the borders of legislative power, but that is much easier than to decide how far a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/it-is-often-hard-to-secure-unanimity-about-the-borders-of-legislative/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [Each one of us must in the end choose for himself how far he would like to leave our collective fate to the wayward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/each-one-of-us-must-in-the-end-choose-for-himself-how-far-he-would/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [It lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. While it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/it-lies-in-the-hearts-of-men-and-women-when-it-dies-there-no/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [A self-made man may prefer a self-made name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/a-self-made-man-may-prefer-a-self-made-name/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture; but modern history is not a very satisfactory side-arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/no-doubt-one-may-quote-history-to-support-any-cause-as-the-devil/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) [Explore all 101 Learned Hand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) ## More Agitation quotes > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Indifference is harder to fight than hostility, and there is nothing that kills an agitation like having everybody admit that it is fundamentally right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crystal-eastman/indifference-is-harder-to-fight-than-hostility-and-there-is-nothing/) [Crystal Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crystal-eastman/) > [...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. It will go on...We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/the-government-must-not-think-that-they-can-stop-this-agitation-it/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [This position is untenable, and there can be no pause in the agitation for full political power and responsibility until these are granted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-kelley/this-position-is-untenable-and-there-can-be-no-pause-in-the-agitation/) [Florence Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-kelley/) > [“It is unworthy of great spirits to spread abroad the agitation they feel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-unworthy-of-great-spirits-to-spread-abroad-the-agitation-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“If lies comfort, and truth disturbs - self is being agitated as a result of prideful living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/if-lies-comfort-and-truth-disturbs-self-is-being-agitated-as-a-result/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [We too are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper silence and aloneness with God, together as a community as well as personally;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/we-too-are-called-to-withdraw-at-certain-intervals-into-deeper/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [The wisest among my race understand that agitations of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-wisest-among-my-race-understand-that-agitations-of-social/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/mirabeau-if-you-have-been-told-to-clear-us-from-this-hall-you-must/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Agitation is that part of our intellectual life where vitality results; there ideas are born, breed and bring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/agitation-is-that-part-of-our-intellectual-life-where-vitality/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [It is not proper to project our feelings onto things or to attribute our own sensations and passions to them. Can it also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/it-is-not-proper-to-project-our-feelings-onto-things-or-to-attribute/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Agitation is all about poetry, governance is all about prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jairam-ramesh/agitation-is-all-about-poetry-governance-is-all-about-prose/) [Jairam Ramesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jairam-ramesh/) > [Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will Socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/wherever-capitalism-appears-in-pursuit-of-its-mission-of-exploitation/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [Patience takes courage. It is not an ideal state of calm. In fact, when we practice patience we will see our agitation far more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/patience-takes-courage-it-is-not-an-ideal-state-of-calm-in-fact-when/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Every day I observe more and more the folly of judging of others by ourselves; and I have so much trouble with myself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/every-day-i-observe-more-and-more-the-folly-of-judging-of-others-by/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [Browse all 173 Agitation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Political agitation, by the passions it arouses or the convictions it engenders, may in fact stimulate men to the violation of the law. 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