“What a revolution in her ideas!”

“A revolution is an idea, taken up by bayonets.”

“The Immovable Object can also be construed as an idea whosetime has come. It’s an idea of proportions that the human mind canonly grasp a small portion. Like the idea of freedom during the daysof revolution—only a handful understand what it means for the longterm, but it’s the idea that cause people to take up arms, revoltagainst the ruling class and fight for what they perceive to befreedom.”

“Tea, late dinners and the French Revolution. I cannot exactly see the connection of ideas.”

“(He) was in love with the idea of revolution. Men like that, even when they turn their backs on their party and their comrades, can never let go of the idea: it's the secret god that rules their hearts. It is what makes them come alive; they revel in the danger, the exquisite pain. It is to them what childbirth is to a woman, or war to a mercenary.”

“Revolutionary ideas may be wonderful, but revolutions are nasty. You can't cure a headache by cutting off the patients head.”