--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Agitation prevents rebellion, keeps the…" description: "\"Agitation prevents rebellion, keeps the peace, and secures progress. Every step she gains is gained forever. Muskets are the weapons of animals. Agitat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/wendell-phillips-3986_agitation_agitation-prevents-rebellion-keeps-the-p_1267380.jpg" --- # Agitation prevents rebellion, keeps the peace, and secures… ![“Agitation prevents rebellion, keeps the peace, and secures progress. Every step she gains is gained forever. Muskets are the weapons of animals. Agitation is the atmosphere of the brains.” quote by Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/wendell-phillips-3986_agitation_agitation-prevents-rebellion-keeps-the-p_1267380.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/wendell-phillips-3986_agitation_agitation-prevents-rebellion-keeps-the-p_1267380.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/wendell-phillips-3986_agitation_agitation-prevents-rebellion-keeps-the-p_1267380.jpg) > “Agitation prevents rebellion, keeps the peace, and secures progress. Every step she gains is gained forever. Muskets are the weapons of animals. Agitation is the atmosphere of the brains.” [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Agitation is presented as a necessary force to prevent complacency, maintain order, and drive advancement, while also being a tool of control. **In simple terms:** Agitation keeps peace and pushes progress. Key Takeaway Use agitation wisely to inspire change. Themes social change control peace progress Mood critical motivational Type political ethical When to use this quote - activism - community organizing - policy reform - education campaigns Key Concepts politics psychology revolution ethics Questions to Reflect On - When does agitation become harmful? - How can we balance agitation with stability? A Different Perspective Excessive agitation can cause unrest and backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation/) [Agitation Atmosphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation-atmosphere-2347378/) [Agitation Prevents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation-prevents-4049522/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals-agitation-4049524/) [Atmosphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atmosphere/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Every step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-step/) [Forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forever/) [Gains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gains/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Prevents Rebellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevents-rebellion-4049523/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Rebellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rebellion/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [Weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [Agitation is the atmosphere of the brains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/agitation-is-the-atmosphere-of-the-brains/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/eternal-vigilance-is-the-price-of-liberty-power-is-ever-stealing-from-2/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Our agitation, you know, helps keep yours alive in the rank and file.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/our-agitation-you-know-helps-keep-yours-alive-in-the-rank-and-file/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [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 Wendell Phillips > [Right is the eternal sun; the world cannot delay its coming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/right-is-the-eternal-sun-the-world-cannot-delay-its-coming/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The best education in the world is that got by struggling to get a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-best-education-in-the-world-is-that-got-by-struggling-to-get-a/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/eternal-vigilance-is-the-price-of-liberty-power-is-ever-stealing-from/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The Puritan's idea of hell is a place where everybody has to mind his own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-puritan-s-idea-of-hell-is-a-place-where-everybody-has-to-mind-his/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The paleontological evidence before us today clearly demonstrates ordered progressive change with the successive development of new faunal and floral assemblages through the changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-paleontological-evidence-before-us-today-clearly-demonstrates/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The press is the exclusive literature of the million; to them it is literature, church, and college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-press-is-the-exclusive-literature-of-the-million-to-them-it-is/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Every government is always growing corrupt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/every-government-is-always-growing-corrupt/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Neither do I acknowledge the right of Plymouth to the whole rock. No, the rock underlies all America: it only crops out here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/neither-do-i-acknowledge-the-right-of-plymouth-to-the-whole-rock-no/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The heart beats louder and the soul hears quicker in silence and solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-heart-beats-louder-and-the-soul-hears-quicker-in-silence-and/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Freedom to preach was first gained, dragging in its train freedom to print.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/freedom-to-preach-was-first-gained-dragging-in-its-train-freedom-to/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Politicians are like the bones of a horse's foreshoulder-not a straight one in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/politicians-are-like-the-bones-of-a-horse-s-foreshoulder-not-a/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Wants awaken intellect. To gratify them disciplines intellect. The keener the want the lustier the growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/wants-awaken-intellect-to-gratify-them-disciplines-intellect-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Popular opinion is oftenest, what Carlyle pronounced it to be, a lie!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/popular-opinion-is-oftenest-what-carlyle-pronounced-it-to-be-a-lie/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Great political questions stir the deepest nature of one-half the nation, but they pass far above and over the heads of the other half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/great-political-questions-stir-the-deepest-nature-of-one-half-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Organize, and stand together. Claim something together, and at once; let the nation hear a united demand from the laboring voice, and then, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/organize-and-stand-together-claim-something-together-and-at-once-let/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) [Explore all 117 Wendell Phillips quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) ## 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": "Agitation prevents rebellion, keeps the peace, and secures progress. Every step she gains is gained forever. Muskets are the weapons of animals. 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