--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our history in this country dates from…" description: "\"Our history in this country dates from the moment that restless men among us became restless under oppression and rose against it . . . Agitation, cont..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/timothy-thomas-fortune-36701_agitation_our-history-in-this-country-dates-from-t_172646.jpg" --- # Our history in this country dates from the moment that… ![“Our history in this country dates from the moment that restless men among us became restless under oppression and rose against it . . . Agitation, contentions, ceaseless unrest, constant aspiring -- a race so moved must prevail.” quote by Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/timothy-thomas-fortune-36701_agitation_our-history-in-this-country-dates-from-t_172646.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/timothy-thomas-fortune-36701_agitation_our-history-in-this-country-dates-from-t_172646.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/timothy-thomas-fortune-36701_agitation_our-history-in-this-country-dates-from-t_172646.jpg) > “Our history in this country dates from the moment that restless men among us became restless under oppression and rose against it . . . Agitation, contentions, ceaseless unrest, constant aspiring -- a race so moved must prevail.” [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage asserts that the nation's history began when oppressed people grew restless, resisted, and fought for change, emphasizing continual struggle and the drive to prevail. **In simple terms:** History starts when oppressed people become restless and rise against oppression. Key Takeaway Understand that progress often stems from collective unrest and resistance. Themes oppression resistance history social change collective action Mood determined hopeful Type historical motivational When to use this quote - activist organizing - educational curricula - community advocacy - policy reform Key Concepts social movements civil rights revolutionary theory human agency Questions to Reflect On - What fuels collective unrest? - How can societies channel unrest into constructive change? A Different Perspective Resistance can lead to violence or backlash if not guided. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation/) [Constant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constant/) [Contention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contention/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Restless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-restless-1865785/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved/) [Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression/) [Oppression Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression-rose-1865783/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Restless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restless/) [Restless Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restless-men-1865784/) [Restless Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restless-oppression-1865782/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Unrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unrest/) ## Related quotes > [Men are restless, adventurous. Women are conservative - despite what current ideology says.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/men-are-restless-adventurous-women-are-conservative-despite-what/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction in earthly things. They will exhaust themselves in the deceitful delights of sin, and, finding them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/men-are-in-a-restless-pursuit-after-satisfaction-in-earthly-things/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction and earthly things. They have no forethought for their eternal state, the present hour absorbs them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/men-are-in-a-restless-pursuit-after-satisfaction-and-earthly-things/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [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/) > [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 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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [...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/) > [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 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/) ## More by Timothy Thomas Fortune > [It is not safe in the republican form of government that clannishness should exist either by compulsory or voluntary reason. It is not good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/it-is-not-safe-in-the-republican-form-of-government-that-clannishness/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [Men may be spoiled by education, even as they are spoiled by illiteracy. Education is the preparation of the mind for future work, hence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/men-may-be-spoiled-by-education-even-as-they-are-spoiled-by/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [Mental inertia is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/mental-inertia-is-death/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [The white men of the South had better make up their minds that the blacks will remain in the South just as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/the-white-men-of-the-south-had-better-make-up-their-minds-that-the/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [We are African in origin and American in birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/we-are-african-in-origin-and-american-in-birth/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [The race cannot succeed, nor build strong citizens, until we have a race of women competent to do more than bear a brood of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/the-race-cannot-succeed-nor-build-strong-citizens-until-we-have-a/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [Ours is supposed to be a government in which classes and distinctions melt into a harmonious whole. Until we reach this ideal of government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/ours-is-supposed-to-be-a-government-in-which-classes-and-distinctions/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [I do not inveigh against higher education, I simply maintain that the sort of education the colored people of the South stand most in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/i-do-not-inveigh-against-higher-education-i-simply-maintain-that-the/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [The colored man is in the South to stay there. He will not leave it voluntarily and he cannot be driven out. He had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/the-colored-man-is-in-the-south-to-stay-there-he-will-not-leave-it/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [Mob law is the most forcible expression of an abnormal public opinion; it shows that society is rotten to the core.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/mob-law-is-the-most-forcible-expression-of-an-abnormal-public-opinion/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) > [We must learn to lean upon ourselves; we must learn to plan and execute business enterprises of our own; we must learn to venture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-thomas-fortune/we-must-learn-to-lean-upon-ourselves-we-must-learn-to-plan-and/) [Timothy Thomas Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) [Explore all 12 Timothy Thomas Fortune quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-thomas-fortune/) ## 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": "Our history in this country dates from the moment that restless men among us became restless under oppression and rose against it . . . 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