Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Inejirō Asanuma
85 quotes
“Debate and theory are no longer needed… first, act.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Credo of the early Kensetsusha Dōmei circle, reflected in Asanuma's contributions to its organ Kensetsusha, c. 1919–1923
“We must be youth of the mind as well as youth of action.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kōdō no Seinen" ("Youth of Action"), Kensetsusha (organ of the Kensetsusha Dōmei), April 1923
“The military clique, writhing in its death agonies, has invaded even our Waseda to maintain its power.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Waseda University anti-military research group (gunken) protest assembly, May 1923
“The spirit of revolution must be a flame.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Personal reading notebook titled "Shisō no Haha" ("Mother of Thought"), estimated 1925–1927
“Isn't my life somewhat slackened right now? I must be on guard.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Same personal reading notebook, estimated 1925–1927
“Since I am large for a Japanese, he asked if I was born in the North. I answered "No, South." In physique alone, I would not fall short even among Westerners.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: c. mid-July 1939 (meeting with U.S. Senator Tydings in Washington), Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japane…
“Cars are like geta. For the Mongols, horses are geta; for Japan, bicycles are geta. Petroleum civilization: one automobile for every four people.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: July 1939 (during travel in the Seattle/Portland area), Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshi…
“America has social order, but it feels as though the sense of nation is thin.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: July 1939 (during travel in the United States), Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōga…
“World history is revolving around the Danzig and Tianjin questions. … I feel that the gears of world history are accelerating still further.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 6 August 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol. 73…
“At ten o'clock Hitler's oratory comes through the radio. Everyone gathers at the well-side. I do not understand German, but Hitler's powerful voice and the thunderous applause that arises at every pause make me feel he is truly an orator.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol.…
“It is a divine wind [kamikaze] for Japan," I said, and raised a glass. I immediately went to Kita's room and told him; he too sincerely rejoiced that, for the sake of the nation, this would allow us to advance even more vigorously in the construction of the New Order in East Asia. … From today the great European war will fully unfold. For Japan it is truly a divine wind. At this opportunity we must devote all our strength to completing the New Order in East Asia.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol.…
“Today I am again reading Kita's Shina Kakumei Gaishi [An Informal History of the Chinese Revolution].”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: c. mid-September 1939 (Copenhagen), Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha…
“Reading Kita Ikki's Shina Kakumei Gaishi while discussing it with Kita Reikichi.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: mid-September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vo…
“The whole world cannot be solved by ideology or theory. It feels as though everything moves with reality at the center.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 22 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol…
“Some think of Europe's war as a heaven-sent blessing for Japan, and it is indeed a blessing, but we must prepare now for what comes next. Should we not cultivate our own autonomous and independent strength? Should not ethnic totalitarianism evolve into supra-ethnic regionalism?”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 26 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol…
“Finished reading Ōkawa Shūmei's Nihon Nisenroppyakunen Shi [History of Japan's 2,600 Years]. I gained much from it. Especially where he passionately advocates the need for renewal while burning with patriotic fervor—it feels as though it is permeating my own body.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 27 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol…
“In reality, America has abrogated the commercial treaty, and Germany, whom we regarded as a brother, has somewhat betrayed us. Japan has truly taken on an independent stance. When standing alone, it is opposed to every country.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol. 7…
“In proportion to Britain's decline we see America's advance in the Far East; America is advancing as an obstructer of the construction of the New Order in East Asia even more than Britain's retreat.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Eikoku o Tōyō kara Tsuihō seyo" ("Expel Britain from the Orient"), Jitsugyō no Sekai, September 1940
“Now, let us perform remote worship toward the Imperial Palace.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At the founding convention of the Japan Socialist Party (2 November 1945), serving as Organization Minister. Asanuma opened the proceedings with this call, urging the audience to stand and bow toward the Imperial Palace…
“Tennō Heika Banzai!”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even if the electoral districts are small and the number of winners are limited, if a party gathers a large number of votes nationwide, it should naturally be able to participate in politics through that support. Therefore, a system that respects political parties must emerge. That is why adopting a policy of carving up the electoral districts into tiny pieces is clearly an act of repression against smaller parties. And if it is repression, the end result will be the obstruction of Japanese democracy. This is a point that we simply cannot accept.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the 92nd Imperial Diet, 30 March 1947
“He has been a powerful leader of the farmer's Union in Tohoku district. He is one of pioneer christian socialist worker in northern Japan. Most northern farmer still hope him back to the democratic front. I hope so too.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter from Inejirō Asanuma about Yōnosuke Kikuchi, 25 April 1948
“I entered Waseda in September of Taishō 6 (or 7), the year of the school disturbances when professors like Nagai Ryūtarō and Ōyama Ikuo resigned. I was drawn to Waseda because it was founded by Marquis Ōkuma Shigenobu as a free academy aiming for the independence of learning and freedom of research in opposition to the bureaucratic military clique of the time.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“From the standpoint of students, we began researching democracy and socialism, but influenced by external socialist and labor movements, two currents emerged among the students: those pursuing it ideologically and those focusing on practical action.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“Five or six thousand students gathered in front of the statue of Marquis Ōkuma. [...] It ended in a great student brawl, with people like Tokano Takeshi falling from the top of the Ōkuma statue and being injured. Since the day happened to be a Friday, we students called it Bloody Friday and greatly raised our spirits.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950) (recounting the violent clash over the military research group at Waseda)
“America also has people who have come to terms with the war and those who have not. The same can be said of Japan. Those who have come to terms with the war welcomed us very warmly and have come to understand Japan very well.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950) (reflections after a visit to the United States as part of a parliamentary delegation)
“Nevertheless, America is more than twenty times the size of Japan and possesses extremely abundant resources. Of course there are unemployed and various contradictions of capitalism, yet people in general enjoy life. Japan, by contrast, is living a life-or-death existence. At least in the economic sphere the difference is as great as heaven and earth, and we must always keep this in mind. To transplant the American pattern as it stands to Japan is somewhat unreasonable. Japan’s present condition more closely resembles that of Britain.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“In last January’s general election the Communists jumped from four to thirty-five seats and the Liberals won an absolute majority of 270, yet Japan’s working class did not choose the victorious Communists; they chose the defeated Socialists.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“People often call me Maa-Maa Koji or say I am indecisive, timid, passive, etc. But in a mass organization, once a policy is decided at a congress, if everyone abides by it, there will be neither conflict nor split.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“No matter how many different arguments may arise, I think it is fine to bring things together where they need to be brought together. In a mass organization like the Socialist Party, there should be someone who can be called a unifier.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“As I said during the recent party self-criticism, everyone must adopt the attitude of being a pure Socialist Party member — that is, I am a Socialist Party member. Neither right nor left, just a Socialist Party member.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“The Socialist Party is a mass party, so when discussing things, it is natural that there will sometimes be left-leaning arguments and right-leaning arguments. What we must guard against is fixing left and right and turning them into factions.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“Since graduating from Waseda, for over thirty years I have devoted myself to social movements, sacrificing myself to serve the masses, and have done what little I can, believing it to be my historical mission to fight for the realization of socialism [..] This inevitably means sacrificing family life. [...] From a human perspective, social activism can sometimes seem cruel. I sometimes think: what is social activism without the liberation and establishment of family life?”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Day for Taking Rest, 15 February 1953
“We must recognize that if a nation’s security is guaranteed by another country’s military for a long period, independence will turn into subordination.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“If one country has its security guaranteed by another country's military forces, and if that period becomes long, independence inevitably turns into subservience, we must recognize this. The fact that Japanese courts have no jurisdiction over those residing in Japan [U.S. forces and dependents] constitutes a form of extraterritoriality, and cannot be called complete independence.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“Japan must develop an independent foreign policy based on the great principle of never intervening in war, aiming to become a bridge for peace connecting free Asia with the West.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“There can be no national independence without economic self-reliance.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“The Yoshida Cabinet’s agricultural policy suppresses rice prices through controls while selling fertilizer freely—selling expensive fertilizer to Japanese farmers, buying rice cheaply from them, and importing expensive rice while selling cheap fertilizer abroad. One wonders for whose sake this agricultural policy exists.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“A Prime Minister who arbitrarily interprets the Constitution and ignores its provisions is behaving like a despot.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“When people ask about my ancestors, I reply, ‘Most likely descendants of exiles.’ [...] Among these exiled notables, the greatest hero is undoubtedly Minamoto no Tametomo. My friend, the local historian Asanuma Eitarō, once told me, ‘The reason you are fighting so hard in the Diet is because you carry the blood of Tametomo.’ Being compared to the modern Tametomo felt a bit ticklish.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“The most memorable episode from my time on Miyake-jima was, I think, when I was in the fifth or sixth grade of elementary school, crossing a toi (wooden water trough) suspended over a cliff and being scolded by my mother. [...] Terrified, I ran outside, and later when I returned home, I hid inside a straw sack.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“In Taishō 5 [1916], after graduating from the Prefectural Third Middle School, I told my father, ‘I want to enter Waseda University and become a politician,’ but he scolded me severely. [...] My desire to attend Waseda only grew stronger, and in September of the same year I took the entrance examination for the second semester and entered Waseda University.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“We named this day ‘Bloody Friday.’ [...] Even after the incident, I was seized by members of the Yoko-Ou Club, taken to their lodging, and held captive all night where I was beaten, kicked, and punched until I was nearly unconscious from the lynching.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“On the one hand, while engaging in such student activism, I also rowed boats, wrestled sumo, and was active as a member of athletic clubs. In the inter-department boat races, I competed as a representative of the Political Economy Department and won. Still in my rowing outfit right after the boat race, I met Marquis Ōkuma. He patted my body and said, 'What a fine physique you have. That impression remains with me even now.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“This happened just three hours after the party was founded. [...] There is the old saying of a ‘three-day shogun,’ but the Farmer-Labor Party was a three-hour shogun, and accordingly my first term as secretary-general lasted only three hours.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“If I gave a speech it was ‘Warning, Stop, Detention.’ If I was at the front of a demonstration it was ‘Detention.’ Among the social activists of that time, it seems I held the top record for number of detentions.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“However, my voice was not always this rattling voice. From my student days, I trained it by shouting against the waves on the banks of the Edo River or the shores of Miyake Island, doing cold training in the fields at midnight in winter, and studying Noh chanting in the Kanze school. [...] Thanks to this training, even now I can speak for two or three hours without drinking water.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Truly, speech was my only weapon of struggle throughout more than thirty years of mass movements.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“I heard the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War in a remaining apartment room in Fukagawa. I can never forget the feeling I had at that moment. [...] I felt that I must offer this extra life granted to me for the sake of Japan’s future.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“I am called the ‘Maa-Maa Koji.’ [...] In fact, at meetings of the Central Executive Committee and so on, I do not take votes. [...] I am not good at sitting solemnly as the weight of the party. [...] For me, who is not a theoretician, action is my only weapon, and I believe it is the way to serve the party.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).