--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is an arc of spontaneous revolts…" description: "\"There is an arc of spontaneous revolts, beautiful in their creative beginnings, which traverses boundaries and borders and creates new solidarities and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg" --- # There is an arc of spontaneous revolts, beautiful in their… ![“There is an arc of spontaneous revolts, beautiful in their creative beginnings, which traverses boundaries and borders and creates new solidarities and imaginations but which under the whip of the forces of order and strategies to buy-off sectors of the revolt becomes fragmented.” quote by Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg) > “There is an arc of spontaneous revolts, beautiful in their creative beginnings, which traverses boundaries and borders and creates new solidarities and imaginations but which under the whip of the forces of order and strategies to buy-off sectors of the revolt becomes fragmented.” [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explains how spontaneous uprisings start creatively but become fragmented under control. **In simple terms:** Revolts begin creatively, then fragment under authority. Key Takeaway Protect organic movements from co-optation. Themes revolution creativity control Mood urgent hopeful Type political inspirational When to use this quote - activism - community building - policy advocacy Key Concepts social movements political theory Questions to Reflect On - How can movements stay cohesive? - What safeguards prevent fragmentation? A Different Perspective Maintaining unity is challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arcs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arcs/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Borders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borders/) [Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Fragmented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragmented/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Revolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolt/) [Revolt Fragmented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolt-fragmented-3142398/) [Revolts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolts-636630/) [Revolts Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolts-beautiful-3142400/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Sectors Revolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sectors-revolt-3142401/) [Solidarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solidarity/) [Spontaneous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneous/) [Spontaneous Revolts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneous-revolts-3142399/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) [Traverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traverse/) [Whips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whips/) ## Related quotes > [The revolts themselves open up something very new. One has to be aware, or listen, or open one's mind to what are the new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/the-revolts-themselves-open-up-something-very-new-one-has-to-be-aware/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [What is interesting about the revolts is that they show that there is never anything purely spontaneous, and there is always some thinking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/what-is-interesting-about-the-revolts-is-that-they-show-that-there-is/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [The Second Amendment comes from the right to protect themselves from slave revolts, and from uprisings by Native Americans. A revolt from people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-glover/the-second-amendment-comes-from-the-right-to-protect-themselves-from/) [Danny Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-glover/) > [In the United States, revolts tends to be directed against specific situations, rarely against the social structure as a whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-rosenberg/in-the-united-states-revolts-tends-to-be-directed-against-specific/) [Harold Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-rosenberg/) > [“Revolts tend to start not in places where conditions are worst, but in places where expectations are most unmet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/revolts-tend-to-start-not-in-places-where-conditions-are-worst-but-in/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [General rebellions and revolts of a whole people never were encouraged now or at any time. They are always provoked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/general-rebellions-and-revolts-of-a-whole-people-never-were/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [When one is pretending, the entire body revolts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/when-one-is-pretending-the-entire-body-revolts/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/every-generation-revolts-against-its-fathers-and-makes-friends-with/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [From the beginning however, there was resistence to Portuguese mastery over Kotte. While Dharmapala was alive there were two major revolts, one led by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominicus-corea/from-the-beginning-however-there-was-resistence-to-portuguese-mastery/) [Dominicus Corea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominicus-corea/) > [In crises, the old is dying and the new has not been born. Hence, the revolts we are witnessing in Egypt and Tunisia, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-maria-aznar/in-crises-the-old-is-dying-and-the-new-has-not-been-born-hence-the/) [Jose Maria Aznar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-maria-aznar/) > [There is no rule without revolts and conspiracies, even as there is no property without work and worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivo-andri/there-is-no-rule-without-revolts-and-conspiracies-even-as-there-is-no/) [Ivo Andric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-andri/) > [Hence I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/hence-i-feel-no-shame-in-asserting-that-this-whole-region-engirdled/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [What makes power hold good, what makes it accepted, is simply the fact that it doesn't only weigh on us as a force that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/what-makes-power-hold-good-what-makes-it-accepted-is-simply-the-fact/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [We rarely recognize how wonderful it is that a person can traverse an entire lifetime without making a single really serious mistake — like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-minsky/we-rarely-recognize-how-wonderful-it-is-that-a-person-can-traverse-an/) [Marvin Minsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-minsky/) > [Search for the seed of good in every adversity. Master that principle and you will own a precious shield that will guard you well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/search-for-the-seed-of-good-in-every-adversity-master-that-principle/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) ## More by Nigel Gibson > [Spaces of liberation are, in a certain way, some kind of social spaces where people can not only get together and think about something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/spaces-of-liberation-are-in-a-certain-way-some-kind-of-social-spaces/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [The colonial regime makes sure, often with the help of surrogates, that radical leaders and those honest principled intellectuals and activists who refuse to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/the-colonial-regime-makes-sure-often-with-the-help-of-surrogates-that/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [If you look at social movements in Latin America, there are spaces where alternative politics are thought about on the ground, at the grassroots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/if-you-look-at-social-movements-in-latin-america-there-are-spaces/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [What is interesting about the revolts is that they show that there is never anything purely spontaneous, and there is always some thinking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/what-is-interesting-about-the-revolts-is-that-they-show-that-there-is/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Fifty years is the long time to think about a thinker's relevance or to think of the relevance of their work to a contemporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/fifty-years-is-the-long-time-to-think-about-a-thinker-s-relevance-or/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [For Fanon, becoming actional is connected to his idea of a new humanism, which is explicitly critical of European humanism so intimately connected with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/for-fanon-becoming-actional-is-connected-to-his-idea-of-a-new/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Violence is used to suppress a people in a most blatantly crude way. We can historicize and contextualize it. We can analyze the Algerian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/violence-is-used-to-suppress-a-people-in-a-most-blatantly-crude-way/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Political change does not really lead to any fundamental change for most of the people, indeed because politics (even if it calls itself democratic)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/political-change-does-not-really-lead-to-any-fundamental-change-for/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Counter-violence against the colonial regime is liberatory because it is an act, and by acting, the absolute power of colonialism, internalized by the colonized,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/counter-violence-against-the-colonial-regime-is-liberatory-because-it/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [The only way that we can prove the relevance of Fanon in a certain way outside of some academic circles is to ask, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/the-only-way-that-we-can-prove-the-relevance-of-fanon-in-a-certain/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Many of the democratization projects are a real threat to real democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/many-of-the-democratization-projects-are-a-real-threat-to-real/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [The military defeat of an oppressive regime is important, but it does not answer our problems. It is where our problems begin, since social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/the-military-defeat-of-an-oppressive-regime-is-important-but-it-does/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Manicheanism is like a vacuum, it is an either or situation that curtails or destroys the development of liberatory thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/manicheanism-is-like-a-vacuum-it-is-an-either-or-situation-that/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [Fanon calls his ideology a new humanism, not only in contrast to the elite humanism of the West, but also on the axiom that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/fanon-calls-his-ideology-a-new-humanism-not-only-in-contrast-to-the/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [The Syrian people do not recognize themselves in the elite politics of the Muslim Brotherhood or the left, each of which is looking for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/the-syrian-people-do-not-recognize-themselves-in-the-elite-politics/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) [Explore all 22 Nigel Gibson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) ## More Arcs quotes > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [Through the music I hope to give it an arc that gives it a greater sense of a journey through the set rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gotye/through-the-music-i-hope-to-give-it-an-arc-that-gives-it-a-greater/) [Gotye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gotye/) > [Because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/because-we-grew-up-surrounded-by-big-dramatic-story-arcs-in-books-and/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Joan of Arc should be played as a "pain in the ass" and how do I know she was a "pain in the ass"?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-clurman/joan-of-arc-should-be-played-as-a-pain-in-the-ass-and-how-do-i-know/) [Harold Clurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-clurman/) > [When in doubt, the rule of threes is a rule that plays well with all of storytelling. When describing a thing? No more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-wendig/when-in-doubt-the-rule-of-threes-is-a-rule-that-plays-well-with-all/) [Chuck Wendig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-wendig/) > [Sanchez looked at me and we locked eyes a second too long. There was nothing I could do about it. The signal went out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/sanchez-looked-at-me-and-we-locked-eyes-a-second-too-long-there-was/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [When we are young, we spend much time and pains in filling our note-books with all definitions of Religion, Love, Poetry, Politics, Art, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/when-we-are-young-we-spend-much-time-and-pains-in-filling-our-note/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I suppose that, for me at least, the biggest difference betweenThe Gunslinger Born and the next two story arcs (The Long Road Home and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-furth/i-suppose-that-for-me-at-least-the-biggest-difference-betweenthe/) [Robin Furth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-furth/) > [We've got this arc of instability from North Africa to South Asia, and we have to pay close attention to it. And we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-ve-got-this-arc-of-instability-from-north-africa-to-south-asia-and/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one. . . . But from what I see I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/i-do-not-pretend-to-understand-the-moral-universe-the-arc-is-a-long/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [I think every woman character, every female character, has her own arc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katheryn-winnick/i-think-every-woman-character-every-female-character-has-her-own-arc/) [Katheryn Winnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katheryn-winnick/) > [I am committed now to one thing: lyric sequences. I want the intensity of lyric, but the scope and arc of narrative. so, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-orr/i-am-committed-now-to-one-thing-lyric-sequences-i-want-the-intensity/) [Gregory Orr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-orr/) > [We must move forward in the days ahead with audacious faith. The moral arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-move-forward-in-the-days-ahead-with-audacious-faith-the-moral/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Most games follow a real railroad plot, no matter what you want, you're following their storyline to its unavoidable conclusion. I'd like to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/most-games-follow-a-real-railroad-plot-no-matter-what-you-want-you-re/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Arc, amplitude, and curvature sustain a similar relation to each other as time, motion, and velocity, or as volume, mass, and density.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/arc-amplitude-and-curvature-sustain-a-similar-relation-to-each-other/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) [Browse all 250 Arcs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arcs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is an arc of spontaneous revolts, beautiful in their creative beginnings, which traverses boundaries and borders and creates new solidarities and imaginations but which under the whip of the forces of order and strategies to buy-off sectors of the revolt becomes fragmented.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nigel Gibson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-beautiful-in-their-creative/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arcs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-beautiful-in-their-creative/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/nigel-gibson-26310_arcs_there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-b_1135743.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is an arc of spontaneous revolts, beautiful in their creative beginnings, which traverses boundaries…” — Nigel Gibson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nigel Gibson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is an arc of spontaneous...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-beautiful-in-their-creative/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/there-is-an-arc-of-spontaneous-revolts-beautiful-in-their-creative/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```