Meaning of the quote

"The quote means that people who are selfish or only look out for themselves usually don't end up doing well in the long run. It's important to be kind and considerate of others, not just think about yourself."

About Saul Alinsky

Saul Alinsky was an influential American community activist and political theorist. He helped poor communities organize and fight for social justice, with his 1971 book ‘Rules for Radicals’ becoming a guide for activists. In recent decades, Alinsky’s ideas have been both praised and criticized across the political spectrum.

More about the author

More quotes from Saul Alinsky

Last guys don’t finish nice.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

Once you accept your own death, all of a sudden you’re free to live. You no longer care about your reputation. You no longer care except so far as your life can be used tactically to promote a cause you believe in.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

Life is a corrupting process from the time a child learns to play his mother off against his father in the politics of when to go to bed; he who fears corruption fears life.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

History is a relay of revolutions.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

Tactics mean doing what you can with what you have.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

Always remember the first rule of power tactics; power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer

The greatest enemy of individual freedom is the individual himself.

Saul Alinsky

American community organizer and writer