Of what is a revolt composed? Of nothing and of everything, of an
electricity suddenly disengaged, of a flame which suddenly breaks
out, of a wandering strength and a passing breath. This breath meets
with heads that talk, brains that dream, souls that suffer, passions
that burn, and miseries which yell, and carries them off with it.
Whither? It is chance work; through the State, through the laws,
through prosperity and the insolence of others. Irritated convictions,
embittered enthusiasms, aroused indignations, martial instincts
suppressed, youthful courage exalted, and generous blindnesses;
curiosity, a taste for a change, thirst for something unexpected, the
feeling which causes us to find pleasure in reading the announcement
of a new piece, or on hearing the machinist's whistle; vague hatreds,
rancors, disappointments, every vanity which believes that destiny
has been a bankrupt to it; straitened circumstances, empty dreams,
ambitions surrounded with escarpments, every man who hopes for an
issue from an overthrow, and, lastly, at the very bottom, the mob, that
mud which takes fire,--such are the elements of riot. The greatest and
the most infamous, beings who prowl about beyond the pale of everything
while awaiting an opportunity, gypsies, nameless men, highway
vagabonds, the men who sleep o' nights in a desert of houses with no
other roof but the cold clouds of heaven, those who daily ask their
bread of chance and not of toil; the unknown men of wretchedness and
nothingness, bare arms and bare feet, belong to the riot. Every man who
has in his soul a secret revolt against any act of the State, of life,
or of destiny, borders on riot; and so soon as it appears he begins to
quiver and to feel himself lifted by the whirlwind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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