"No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand"
About this Quote
Her phrasing does two things at once. First, it flattens ego: “No one” can do it alone. Then it widens agency: some revolutions happen “without quite knowing how,” not because people are ignorant, but because collective action is messy, decentralized, and frequently uncredited. The subtext is almost contemporary: movements don’t require perfect coordination or a single doctrine to become irreversible. They require a shared refusal that spreads through salons and streets, pamphlets and rumors, labor and art.
There’s also a quiet warning embedded in the generosity. If “everybody” takes revolutions in hand, nobody fully controls what they become. Sand is celebrating popular power while acknowledging its unpredictability - the way liberation can turn, mid-sentence, into backlash, opportunism, or simply a new normal that no one voted on.
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APA Style (7th ed.)
Sand, George. (2026, January 16). No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/no-one-makes-a-revolution-by-himself-and-there-95656/
Chicago Style
Sand, George. "No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/no-one-makes-a-revolution-by-himself-and-there-95656/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/no-one-makes-a-revolution-by-himself-and-there-95656/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.











