Alphonse de Lamartine Quotes
The saintly poet was without knowing it, the first radical and the first communist of his century.
Alphonse de Lamartine, 1792-1869, French Historian & Politician, Quoted in Charles Kingsley, The Ancien Regim
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This is not only attributed by reliable sources but apparently Roosevelt had said this on several occasions. The word “radical” has had different shades of meaning at different periods of American History. The origin of the word from the Latin means someone who wishes to change things very rapidly and not gradually. In the time of the Civil War, the majority of the Republicans proudly referred to themselves as “radicals” or “radical Republicans” because they wanted to abolish slavery immediately. In the late 19th century the word “radical” referred to anarchists. From the Russian Revolution onward “radicals” were communists who presumably wanted to change governments throughout the work through revolution—very rapid change. However, in the early 20th century, radicals were people who wanted to reform and regulate businesses and monopolies rapidly and it is this sense he was a radical. But by style, he was a radical in most things in that he wanted to change things and change them rapidly.
Referring to the Declaration of Independence:
The following year, Poland rebelled against Russian Rule, but the revolution was unsuccessful.
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, Knight of Pratz was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France.
