--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Union protagonists can be permitted a…" description: "\"“Union protagonists can be permitted a moment of nostalgia for this 'little' labor movement which no longer exists, nor can ever exist again, but which..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg" --- # Union protagonists can be permitted a moment of nostalgia… ![“Union protagonists can be permitted a moment of nostalgia for this 'little' labor movement which no longer exists, nor can ever exist again, but which, while it lasted, was free of the specific problems that bedevil the labor movement today when by force of circumstance it has been separated a few…” quote by Sidney Lens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg) > ““Union protagonists can be permitted a moment of nostalgia for this 'little' labor movement which no longer exists, nor can ever exist again, but which, while it lasted, was free of the specific problems that bedevil the labor movement today when by force of circumstance it has been separated a few notches farther from the rank and file.”” [Sidney Lens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-lens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical labor movements, though vanished, remind us of past freedoms and the specific challenges that modern unions still face. **In simple terms:** Past labor struggles teach current unions. Key Takeaway Learn from history to improve today. Themes labor union history nostalgia Mood critical hopeful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - union organizing - labor education - policy advocacy Key Concepts social movements collective bargaining political change Questions to Reflect On - What lessons can modern unions draw from early movements? - How can unions avoid past mistakes? A Different Perspective Nostalgia may idealize the past. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Labor movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor-movement/) [Labor-quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor-quotes-103248/) [Little Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-labor-4771559/) [Moment Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment-nostalgia-1397591/) [Nostalgia Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia-little-1390403/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/union/) [Union Protagonists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/union-protagonists-4771558/) [Unions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unions/) ## Related quotes > [I am suddenly comsumed by nostalgia for the little girl who was me, who loved the fields and believed in God, who spent winter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-am-suddenly-comsumed-by-nostalgia-for-the-little-girl-who-was-me/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“The music is mesmerizing. It’s not sad, but it makes you yearn for those afternoons or mornings or nights when you felt so damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-myers/the-music-is-mesmerizing-it-s-not-sad-but-it-makes-you-yearn-for/) [Jason Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-myers/) > [We didn't think the library was funny looking in it's faux- Greek splendor, nor did we find the cuisine limited or bland, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/we-didn-t-think-the-library-was-funny-looking-in-it-s-faux-greek/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [What seems real one moment is fiction the next and gone out of existence the moment after that. Nostalgia is the greatest enemy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-budbill/what-seems-real-one-moment-is-fiction-the-next-and-gone-out-of/) [David Budbill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-budbill/) > [“War, on the other hand, was the result of failure; failure of diplomacy, failure of intelligence, failure to prepare, failure to act decisively when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/col-don-wilson/war-on-the-other-hand-was-the-result-of-failure-failure-of-diplomacy/) [Col Don Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/col-don-wilson/) > [“Busy hands achieve more than idle tongues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/busy-hands-achieve-more-than-idle-tongues/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Inspiration is worthless without perspiration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/inspiration-is-worthless-without-perspiration/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [Trump's principal policies make clear what's going to happen. This gives an opportunity. Right now it's going to take hard work, but it's possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/trump-s-principal-policies-make-clear-what-s-going-to-happen-this/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I would say the issue for the labor movement in the United States is not structural... there is no correlation between the success of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stern/i-would-say-the-issue-for-the-labor-movement-in-the-united-states-is/) [Andy Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stern/) > [Legislators who are of even average intelligence stand out among their colleagues. . . . A cultured college president has become as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bergen-evans/legislators-who-are-of-even-average-intelligence-stand-out-among/) [Bergen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bergen-evans/) > [People think that we're engaged with identity politics. The truth is that we're doing what the labor movement has always done - organizing people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-garza/people-think-that-we-re-engaged-with-identity-politics-the-truth-is/) [Alicia Garza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-garza/) > [My parents had been involved in the labor movement; if we'd grown up in the city, we would have been red-diaper babies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-near/my-parents-had-been-involved-in-the-labor-movement-if-we-d-grown-up/) [Holly Near](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-near/) > [With all of the talk about polling and demographics, I think too many people have lost touch with the human and moral crisis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlene-holt-baker/with-all-of-the-talk-about-polling-and-demographics-i-think-too-many/) [Arlene Holt Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlene-holt-baker/) > [“The farm labor movement saw him as a racist. He seemed to delight in the most outrageous snubs. Farm labor organizer Cesar Chavez was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jana-bommersbach/the-farm-labor-movement-saw-him-as-a-racist-he-seemed-to-delight-in/) [Jana Bommersbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jana-bommersbach/) > [The labor movement must be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-rove/the-labor-movement-must-be-destroyed/) [Karl Rove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-rove/) ## More Labor quotes > [Less than 8 percent of private sector workers belonged to a union in 2004, and, overall, only 12.5 percent of American workers carry a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-chavez/less-than-8-percent-of-private-sector-workers-belonged-to-a-union-in/) [Linda Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-chavez/) > [Maryland will always have the backs of working people and organized labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-moore/maryland-will-always-have-the-backs-of-working-people-and-organized/) [Wes Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-moore/) > [In an economy increasingly dominated by network effects, peer-to-peer transactions, self-regulation, and contract labor, the old frameworks are woefully irrelevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anand-giridharadas/in-an-economy-increasingly-dominated-by-network-effects-peer-to-peer/) [Anand Giridharadas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anand-giridharadas/) > [Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/everything-that-is-really-great-and-inspiring-is-created-by-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [ \[In science any model depends on a pre-chosen taxonomy\] a set of classifications into which we divide the enormous complexity of the real world...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-science-any-model-depends-on-a-pre-chosen-taxonomy-a-set-of/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [What we need is political leadership which can give guidance to the development of global governance. We need business leadership which goes beyond shareholder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-somavia/what-we-need-is-political-leadership-which-can-give-guidance-to-the/) [Juan Somavia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-somavia/) > [No matter the style, the farther one goes the more obstacles increase, and the more distant appears the object it is desired to attain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-georges-noverre/no-matter-the-style-the-farther-one-goes-the-more-obstacles-increase/) [Jean-Georges Noverre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-georges-noverre/) > [Every step by which an individual substitutes concerted action for isolated action results in an immediate and recognizable improvement in his conditions. The advantages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/every-step-by-which-an-individual-substitutes-concerted-action-for/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-am-glad-to-see-that-a-system-of-labor-prevails-under-which-laborers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/with-a-full-century-of-contrary-proof-in-our-possession-and-despite/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [He who believes in God is not careful for the morrow, but labors joyfully and with a great heart. "For He giveth His beloved,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/he-who-believes-in-god-is-not-careful-for-the-morrow-but-labors/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Labor is the law of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-stevens/labor-is-the-law-of-happiness/) [Abel Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-stevens/) > [Genius is the power to labor better and more availably. Deserve thy genius: exalt it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/genius-is-the-power-to-labor-better-and-more-availably-deserve-thy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Browse all 3,334 Labor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Union protagonists can be permitted a moment of nostalgia for this 'little' labor movement which no longer exists, nor can ever exist again, but which, while it lasted, was free of the specific problems that bedevil the labor movement today when by force of circumstance it has been separated a few notches farther from the rank and file.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sidney Lens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-lens/union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-moment-of-nostalgia-for-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Labor" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-lens/union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-moment-of-nostalgia-for-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/sidney-lens-278274_labor_union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-mo_3002165.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Union protagonists can be permitted a moment of nostalgia for this 'little' labor movement which no longer…” — Sidney Lens", "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": "Sidney Lens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-lens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Union protagonists can be permitted a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-lens/union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-moment-of-nostalgia-for-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-lens/union-protagonists-can-be-permitted-a-moment-of-nostalgia-for-this/#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 } } ] } ```