“What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been hitherto in the political order? Nothing. What does it ask? To become something.”
What this quote means
This quote by Sieyès, from his revolutionary pamphlet, summarizes the condition of the Third Estate: essential but marginalized. It expresses an aspiration for recognition and political participation. It resonates with all who feel invisible or excluded, and reminds us that a society's legitimacy rests on including all its members.
How to apply it daily
Identify a marginalized group or person in your environment. Find a way to give voice to that reality, whether by supporting a cause or actively listening.
Continue
Related quotes
Same author or same theme — keep reading.
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”Create visual
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”Create visual
“The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.”Create visual
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”Create visual
“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.”Create visual
“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts, it has its laws.”Create visual