--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Should an authoritarian Socialist society…" description: "\"“Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever succeed in establishing itself, it could not last; general discontent would soon force it to break up, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg" --- # Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever succeed in… ![“Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever succeed in establishing itself, it could not last; general discontent would soon force it to break up, or to reorganize itself on principles of liberty.” quote by Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg) > ““Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever succeed in establishing itself, it could not last; general discontent would soon force it to break up, or to reorganize itself on principles of liberty.”” [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authoritarian socialism lacks lasting stability because inherent human desire for liberty creates inevitable dissent. **In simple terms:** Lack of freedom leads to collapse. Key Takeaway Design systems that protect liberty. Themes political theory authoritarianism liberty socialism Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical political When to use this quote - government design - social movements - policy reform Key Concepts anarchism human nature Questions to Reflect On - Can liberty be ensured in collective systems? - What safeguards prevent authoritarian drift? A Different Perspective Idealistic societies may still face practical governance challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authoritarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authoritarian/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ## Related quotes > [“We live in a sad society. Succeed--that is the advice which falls drop by drop from the overhanging corruption. In passing, we might say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/we-live-in-a-sad-society-succeed-that-is-the-advice-which-falls-drop/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [And the truth is, those who are terrorists only have to succeed once, and those of us who are trying to build an inclusive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-miliband/and-the-truth-is-those-who-are-terrorists-only-have-to-succeed-once/) [David Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-miliband/) > [“Patriotism never demands obedience to the state but rather obedience to the principles of liberty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/patriotism-never-demands-obedience-to-the-state-but-rather-obedience/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [Jesus Christ was a patriot! His country was the world. His laws were the eternal principles of liberty, and his followers, in every age,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-f-whitney/jesus-christ-was-a-patriot-his-country-was-the-world-his-laws-were/) [Orson F. Whitney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-f-whitney/) > [We must dedicate ourselves to the fundamental principles of liberty and justice that animate our laws and our governance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cori-bush/we-must-dedicate-ourselves-to-the-fundamental-principles-of-liberty/) [Cori Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cori-bush/) > [We recipients of the boon of liberty have always been ready, when faced with discomfort, to discard any and all first principles of liberty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/we-recipients-of-the-boon-of-liberty-have-always-been-ready-when/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [The conservative movement was founded on core principles of liberty, individual freedom, limited government and building and promoting strong families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/the-conservative-movement-was-founded-on-core-principles-of-liberty/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [ It astonishes me to find... \[that so many\] of our countrymen... should be contented to live under a system which leaves to their governors… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-astonishes-me-to-find-that-so-many-of-our-countrymen-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Advocates of capitalism like to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/advocates-of-capitalism-like-to-appeal-to-the-sacred-principles-of/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Now I will avow, that I then believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/now-i-will-avow-that-i-then-believed-and-now-believe-that-those/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“To deny James an education was attacking principles of liberty and equality upon the only ground which it ought to be supported and equality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-withey/to-deny-james-an-education-was-attacking-principles-of-liberty-and/) [Lynne Withey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-withey/) > [It is true that not everyone was represented at the table when our country was being birthed... Yet the principles of liberty and equality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ketanji-brown-jackson/it-is-true-that-not-everyone-was-represented-at-the-table-when-our/) [Ketanji Brown Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ketanji-brown-jackson/) > [I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-am-running-for-president-to-return-our-country-to-the-principles-of/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [“Without Thomas Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence, there would have been no American revolution that announced universal principles of liberty. Without his participation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/without-thomas-jefferson-and-his-declaration-of-independence-there/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Religious freedom is a proud founding principle of America and ethnic bigotry flies in the face of American principles of liberty and equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-cawthorn/religious-freedom-is-a-proud-founding-principle-of-america-and-ethnic/) [Madison Cawthorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-cawthorn/) ## More by Pyotr Kropotkin > [“Wage-work is serf-work; it cannot, it must not, produce all that it could produce. And it is high time to disbelieve the legend which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/wage-work-is-serf-work-it-cannot-it-must-not-produce-all-that-it/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“They say, 'No private property', and immediately after strive to maintain private property in its daily manifestations. 'You shall be a commune as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/they-say-no-private-property-and-immediately-after-strive-to-maintain/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“Because, to do manual work now, means in reality to shut yourself up for ten or twelve hours a day in an unhealthy workshop,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/because-to-do-manual-work-now-means-in-reality-to-shut-yourself-up/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“In our civilized societies we are rich. Why then are the many poor? Why this painful drudgery for the masses? Why, even to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/in-our-civilized-societies-we-are-rich-why-then-are-the-many-poor-why/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“No, plenty for all is not a dream – though it was a dream indeed in those days when man, for all his pains,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/no-plenty-for-all-is-not-a-dream-though-it-was-a-dream-indeed-in/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“Whole columns are devoted to parliamentary debates and to political intrigues; while the vast everyday life of a nation appears only in the columns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/whole-columns-are-devoted-to-parliamentary-debates-and-to-political/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“All that was once looked on as a function of the government is today called in question. Things are arranged more easily and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/all-that-was-once-looked-on-as-a-function-of-the-government-is-today/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“Very often the idler is but a man to whom it is repugnant to spend all his life making the eighteenth part of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/very-often-the-idler-is-but-a-man-to-whom-it-is-repugnant-to-spend/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“What interest, in fact, can this depressing work have for the worker, when he knows that the fate awaiting him from the cradle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/what-interest-in-fact-can-this-depressing-work-have-for-the-worker/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“The history of human thought recalls the swinging of a pendulum which takes centuries to swing. After a long period of slumber comes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/the-history-of-human-thought-recalls-the-swinging-of-a-pendulum-which/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“Well-being for all is not a dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/well-being-for-all-is-not-a-dream/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“Collectivists begin by proclaiming a revolutionary principle - the abolition of private property - and then they deny it, no sooner than proclaimed, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/collectivists-begin-by-proclaiming-a-revolutionary-principle-the/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“Poverty, we have said elsewhere, was the primary cause of wealth. It was poverty that created the first capitalist; because, before accumulating "surplus value,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/poverty-we-have-said-elsewhere-was-the-primary-cause-of-wealth-it-was/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“That we are utopians is well known. So utopian are we that we go the length of believing that the revolution can and ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/that-we-are-utopians-is-well-known-so-utopian-are-we-that-we-go-the/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“The means of production being the collective work of humanity, the product should be the collective property of the race. Individual appropriation is neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/the-means-of-production-being-the-collective-work-of-humanity-the/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) [Explore all 41 Pyotr Kropotkin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) ## More Authoritarian quotes > [Sometimes it's easier for people who are in authority to be authoritarian, because people know where you stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/sometimes-it-s-easier-for-people-who-are-in-authority-to-be/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [We very clearly do not want an authoritarian regime... setting standards in the world marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ratcliffe/we-very-clearly-do-not-want-an-authoritarian-regime-setting-standards/) [John Ratcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ratcliffe/) > [Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/cumulatively-american-society-is-sliding-toward-a-new-form-of/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [“If you care about other people, that's now a very dangerous idea. If you care about other people, you might try to organize to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-care-about-other-people-that-s-now-a-very-dangerous-idea-if/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Democracy can exist only in the countries where people are brave! Coward nations always live under the authoritarian regimes!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/democracy-can-exist-only-in-the-countries-where-people-are-brave/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Even more than comparing society to a family, comparing it to a body makes an authoritarian ordering of society seem inevitable, immutable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/even-more-than-comparing-society-to-a-family-comparing-it-to-a-body/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are not and will never be an authoritarian regime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/we-are-not-and-will-never-be-an-authoritarian-regime/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [Why do economists fall in love with authoritarian governments?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasheng-huang/why-do-economists-fall-in-love-with-authoritarian-governments/) Yasheng Huang > [“Just as in the Trump-Giuliani Ukraine conspiracy, we saw a ruthless, single-minded obsession with staying in power; a manifest lack of moral values, shame,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-yovanovitch/just-as-in-the-trump-giuliani-ukraine-conspiracy-we-saw-a-ruthless/) Marie Yovanovitch > [North Korea aside, most authoritarian governments have already accepted the growth of the Internet culture as inevitable; they have little choice but to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/north-korea-aside-most-authoritarian-governments-have-already/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-am-the-first-authoritarian-government-elected-to-become-a-dictator/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [There is an authoritarian strain in all of Leftism-- because the bigger the government, the more it controls other peoples' lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-an-authoritarian-strain-in-all-of-leftism-because-the-bigger/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [My position and the state will never allow me to become a dictator, but an authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/my-position-and-the-state-will-never-allow-me-to-become-a-dictator/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [You really don't create an authoritarian society unless you control the personal choices including the sexual choices of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hefner/you-really-don-t-create-an-authoritarian-society-unless-you-control/) [Hugh Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hefner/) > [The question is: Particularly in the post-9/11 era, are societies becoming more liberal or more authoritarian?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/the-question-is-particularly-in-the-post-9-11-era-are-societies/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) [Browse all 185 Authoritarian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authoritarian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever succeed in establishing itself, it could not last; general discontent would soon force it to break up, or to reorganize itself on principles of liberty.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pyotr Kropotkin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/should-an-authoritarian-socialist-society-ever-succeed-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Authoritarian" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/should-an-authoritarian-socialist-society-ever-succeed-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1f/pyotr-kropotkin-15647_freedom_should-an-authoritarian-socialist-societ_903259.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever succeed in establishing itself, it could not last; general…” — Pyotr Kropotkin", "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": "Pyotr Kropotkin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Should an authoritarian Socialist society ever...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/should-an-authoritarian-socialist-society-ever-succeed-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/should-an-authoritarian-socialist-society-ever-succeed-in/#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 } } ] } ```