Alinsky Rules Quotes

The confused mass of rules of conduct called law, which has been bequeathed to us by slavery, serfdom, feudalism, and royalty, has taken the place of those stone monsters, before whom human victims used to be immolated, and whom slavish savages dared not even touch lest they should be slain by the thunderbolts of heaven. ~ Peter Kropotkin

Maybe Zimbardo wasn't wrong, after all, given the proper instructions or rules, we slipped into our own assigned roles in society without even questioning the morality of what we do. ~ Amelia Danver

Greed is eternal. ~ The Ferrengi Rules Of Acquisition 10

There are no rules in the entertainment business. ~ Zakk Wylde

People who work in offices are crazy, they create an environment they hate, write rules they want to break, cast each other in roles they despise. It's like they're sixth formers in an end of term drama acting out the agony of everything they fear most in their life but they forget to end the play. ~ Helen Smith

I do have rules, and etiquette things. I think it's a southern thing too, to an extent. I'll hold the door for someone, but if they don't say, "Thank you," it pisses me off. I say, "Yes, ma'am," and, "Yes, sir." Stuff that is maybe archaic in a lot of ways, but that's how I was raised, and I don't think there's really any harm in that. ~ Chris Black

Break the rules; there are no boundaries.
Conformity strangles the spirit. ~ Michael A. McLellan

I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore.
Ron opened his mouth in horror.
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. ~ J.K. Rowling

True feminine beauty is not a complicated formula involving hundreds of rules to remember. It is not something that requires spending two years at finishing school or being groomed as a beauty pageant queen. It is the natural byproduct of a young woman who has emptied herself, given up her own life, and allowed God's Spirit complete access to every dimension of her inner and outer life. ~ Leslie Ludy

I am trying to imagine under what novel features despotism may appear in the world. In the first place, I see an innumerable multitude of men, alike and equal, constantly circling around in pursuit of the petty and banal pleasures with which they glut their souls. Each one of them, withdrawn into himself, is almost unaware of the fate of the rest….

Over this kind of men stands an immense, protective power which is alone responsible for securing their enjoyment and watching over their fate. That power is absolute, thoughtful of detail, orderly, provident, and gentle. It would resemble parental authority if, fatherlike, it tried to prepare charges for a man's life, but on the contrary, it only tries to keep them in perpetual childhood. It likes to see the citizens enjoy themselves, provided that they think of nothing but enjoyment. It gladly works for their happiness but wants to be sole agent and judge of it. It provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasure, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, makes rules for their testaments, and divides their inheritances. Why should it not entirely relieve them from the trouble of thinking and all the cares of living?

Thus it daily makes the exercise of free choice less useful and rarer, restricts the activity of free will within a narrower compass, and little by little robs each citizen of the proper use of his own faculties. Equality has prepare ~ Alexis De Tocqueville

No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist. ~ Andre Breton

They make their fortune who are stout and wise,
Wit rules the heavens, discretion guides the skies.
[Lat., Che sovente addivien che'l saggio e'l forte.
Fabro a se stesso e di beata sorte.] ~ Torquato Tasso

it's not the quantity of government regulations, taxes, or the size of government that distinguish Australia or Germany from the US, but whether government rules broadcast the gains from growth widely or narrowly. ~ George R. Tyler

Boating is a wonderful and relaxing pastime, however it is not without its hazards. ~ Captain Hank Bracker

When we did that kind of stuff our only rule was ... Well, we didn't have any rules, really, but my rule, because I was the drinker of the group, was not at any time of the day before the night we're working. ~ Lee Hazlewood

Did I ever tell you that Alex loves you so much he got your name tattooed all over his body? Hell, he even got your name branded into the back of his neck."
"They say 'LB,' Carlos. The initials for Latino Blood."
"No, no, no. You've got it all wrong. He wants everyone to think that, but in reality it means Lover of Brittany. LB, get it? ~ Simone Elkeles

There are two rules in life: Rule #1: Don't sweat the small stuff. Rule #2: Everything is small stuff. ~ Finn Taylor

I had an advantage over a lot of people who had gone to school and earned degrees in writing and had learned the rules for writing, so to speak. My style was just to tell a story but to tell it well, and that has worked out for me so far. ~ Robert Kurson

Second rule of the bush. Never get too close to anything that has offspring.
What's the first rule?
Food runs. If you don't want to be food, don't run. ~ Deanna Raybourn

Let's be honest, Carefree Scamps have rarely been accused of being the epitome of virtue, and that's because we intermittently break the rules. Yet despite this we are often charming enough for others around us to make allowances. "He's just prone to being misled. ~ Karl Wiggins

The accidental prescriptions of authority, when time has procured them veneration, are often confounded with the laws of nature, and those rules are supposed coeval with reason, of which the first rise cannot be discovered. ~ Samuel Johnson

One of my rules is never to look sideways at what other people are doing but instead, do what I feel is right. ~ Annie Bryant

Journalists hold themselves apart, and above, the common person. They have rules designed to ensure their objectivity and impartiality. ~ Michael Arrington

I moved to Chicago in the early 1990s and I studied improvisation there. I learned some rules that I try to apply still today: Listen. Say yes. Live in the moment. Make sure you play with people who have your back. Make big choices early and often. Don't start a scene where two people are talking about jumping out of a plane. Start the scene having already jumped. If you're scared, look into your partner's eyes - you will feel better. ~ Amy Poehler

Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied until he rules everything. ~ Bruce Springsteen

I told them this was their language, this English, this most marvellous and expressive cloak of meaning and imagination. This great, exclamatory, illuminating song, it belonged to anyone who found it in their mouths. There was no wrong way to say it, or write it, the language couldn't be compelled or herded, it couldn't be tonsured or pruned, pollarded or plaited, it was as hard as oaths and as subtle as rhyme. It couldn't be forced or bullied or policed by academics; it wasn't owned by those with flat accents; nobody had the right to tell them how to use it or what to say. There are no rules and nobody speaks incorrectly, because there is no correctly: no high court of syntax. And while everyone can speak with the language, nobody speaks for the language. Not grammars, not dictionaries. They just run along behind, picking up discarded usages. This English doesn't belong to examiners or teachers. All of you already own the greatest gift, the highest degree this country can bestow. It's on the tip of your tongue. ~ A.A. Gill

History is a relay of revolutions. ~ Saul Alinsky

Nothing gives one a more spuriously good conscience than keeping rules, even if there has been a total absence of all real charity and faith. ~ C.S. Lewis

Method rules his training, which blends the physical with the mental. How many chess masters put in, prior to an important match, an allotted time daily to bicycling and shadow-boxing, followed by a cold douche and a brisk rub down? ~ Hans Kmoch

Life is a great big beautiful three-ring circus. There are those on the floor making their lives among the heads of lions and hoops of fire, and those in the stands, complacent and wowed, their mouths stuffed with popcorn.

I know less now than ever about life, but I do know its size. Life is enormous. Much grander than what we've taken for ourselves, so far.

When the show is over and the tent is packed, the elephants, lions and dancing poodles are caged and mounted on trucks to caravan to the next town. The clown's makeup has worn, and his bright, red smile has been washed down a sink. All that is left is another performance, another tent and set of lights. We rest in the knowledge: the show must go on.

Somewhere, behind our stage curtain, a still, small voice asks why we haven't yet taken up juggling. My seminars were like this. Only, instead of flipping shiny, black bowling balls or roaring chainsaws through the air, I juggled concepts.

The world is intrinsically tied together. All things march through time at different intervals but move ahead in one fashion or another.

Though we may never understand it, we are all part of something much larger than ourselves - something anchoring us to the spot we have mentally chosen. We sniff out the rules, through spiritual quests and the sciences. And with every new discovery, we grow more confused.

Our inability to connect what seems illogical to unite and to def ~ Christopher Hawke

Well, Mr. Illiterate Jock, let me enlighten you. There was this philosopher-slash-historian called Foucault, who wrote about how society is like this legendary prison called the panopticon. In the panopticon, you might be under constant observation, except you can never be sure whether someone is watching or not, so you wind up following the rules anyway."
"But how do you know who's a watcher and who's a prisoner?" I asked, pulling into the empty parking lot.
"That's the point. Even the watchers are prisoners. Come on, let's go on the swings. ~ Robyn Schneider

The Creed for the Sociopathic Obsessive Compulsive (Peter's Laws)


1. If anything can go wrong, Fix it!!! (To hell with Murphy!!)
2. When given a choice - Take Both!!
3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
4. Start at the top, then work your way up.
5. Do it by the book... but be the author!
6. When forced to compromise, ask for more.
7. If you can't beat them, join them, then beat them.
8. If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.
9. If you can't win, change the rules.
10. If you can't change the rules, then ignore them.
11. Perfection is not optional.
12. When faced without a challenge, make one.
13. "No" simply means begin again at one level higher.
14. Don't walk when you can run.
15. Bureaucracy is a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, a tolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary.
16. When in doubt: THINK!
17. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
18. The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
19. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.
20. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!! ~ Peter Safar

My look is relaxed, and while I love fashion, I don't obsess about it. I don't have set rules when it comes to dressing, and I don't mind where my clothes are from. ~ Donna Air

Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules. ~ Ashleigh Brilliant