[Ads-l] Rosa Luxemburg Quote

Wed Jun 3 20:26:15 UTC 2015

In addition to the citations with unverified 1982 GB dates that I
posted previously I should mention that Barry has an entry for the
English expression with a 2007 citation.

Entry from October 20, 2013
"Those who do not move do not notice their chains"
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/those_who_do_not_move_do_not_notice_their_chains

Here is a snippet match in Google Books that is tagged with the year 2006.

Year: 2006
Title: Report of Congress
Author: Trades Union Congress
(Google Books snippet; data must be verified)
https://books.google.com/books?id=xRooAQAAIAAJ

[Begin extracted text]
Workers only feel the full force of anti-union law when they
themselves take action, when they find their hands tied behind their
backs, as Rosa Luxembourg observed, "Those who do not move do not
notice their chains." So, despite the ...
[End extracted text]

There is a discussion of the quotation here:

https://librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/reference-desk-unanswered-questions/

One reply on the thread asserts the quote appeared on a banner during
a protest in Germany in 1989. (Note that the previous post on this
thread has earlier unverified evidence).

[Begin excerpt]
I asked the Marxist Internet Archive as suggested, and quickly
received the following reply, which seems to find the quote to be
apocryphal:

“The German version of this (alleged) quote is “Wer sich nicht bewegt,
spürt seine Fesseln nicht.” It has been attributed to Rosa Luxemburg
by many people and she did say some things that have a similar meaning
but none of the discussions I’ve read have been able to quote where it
came from. While it may appear in one of her letters (most of them
aren’t online yet), the earliest definite reference to this statement
seems to be a banner on an opposition demonstration in the GDR on 17
January 1989 (i.e. on the 70th anniversary of her murder)!
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 12:54 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Rosa Luxemburg Quote
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here are two raw matches in Google Books that are tagged with the year
> 1982. I cannot read German so I am using Google Translate.
>
> The two matching phrases were:
>
> Wer sich nicht bewegt, der sp=C3=BCrt die Fesseln nicht.
> Wer sich nicht bewegt, sp=C3=BCrt die Fesseln nicht.
>
> Title: Protokoll Gewerkschaft Textil-Bekleidung: 14. Ordentlicher
> Gewerkschaftstag in Mainz Rheingoldhalle, 17. Okt. bis 22. Okt. 1982
> Author: Gewerkschaft Textil-Bekleidung. Hauptvorstand
> Publisher: Gewerkschaft Textil-Bekleidung, Hauptvorstand, 1982
> (Google Books snippet; data may be inaccurate and must be verified)
> https://books.google.com/books?id=3D2-1aAAAAYAAJ&
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> Und allen, die die gewerkschaftliche Jugendarbeit zweifeind.
> vielleicht sogar ein wenig mi=C3=9Ftrauisch begleiten und kommentieren,
> sage ich: Wer sich nicht bewegt, sp=C3=BCrt die Fesseln nicht.
> Solidarisches Denken und Handeln, =C3=BCber die ...
> [End extracted text]
>
>
> Title: Jugend '81: Lebensentw=C3=BCrfe, Alltagskulturen, Zukunftsbilder :
> Studie, Volume 1
> Volume 9 of [Jugendstudie / Jugendwerk der Deutschen Shell]
> Editor: Arthur Fischer
> Contributors: Arthur Fischer, Deutsche Shell AG. Jugendwerk, Psydata,
> Institut f=C3=BCr Marktanalysen, Sozial- und Mediaforschung
> Publisher: Leske + Budrich, 1982
> (Google Books snippet; data may be inaccurate and must be verified)
> https://books.google.com/books?id=3D8u8oAAAAYAAJ&
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> ... weil man machen kann, was man will, aber wichtig dabei ist, da=C3=9F
> man immer will, was man macht - Seht die Behinderten wie uns auch an -
> Wer sich nicht bewegt, der sp=C3=BCrt die Fesseln nicht - Ich suche den
> Frieden und beginne bei mir - Die ...
> [End extracted text]
>
> Garson
>
> On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 11:42 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote=
> :
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------=
> ------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Rosa Luxemburg Quote
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
>>
>> FWIW--maybe you have this or something earlier already-- "Wer sich nicht =
> be=3D
>> wegt, sp=3DFCrt seine Fesseln nicht" according to HT probably (I haven't =
> seen=3D
>>  the publication) appears in
>>  Frauen-Graffiti :
>> "Als Gott den Mann erschuf, het sie bloss ge=3DFCbt" /
>> Saskia Schlesinger
>> 1985 Originalausg.
>> German Book Book 128 unnumbered pages : illustrations ; 18 cm.
>> M=3DFCnchen : W. Heyne, ; ISBN: 345335057X 9783453350571=3D20
>>
>> "sequence No.41"
>> (though apparently without Rosa Luxemburg)
>>
>> Stephen Goranson
>> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Shap=
> ir=3D
>> o, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 11:08 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: [ADS-L] Rosa Luxemburg Quote
>>
>> The quotation "Those who do not move, do not notice their chains" is freq=
> ue=3D
>> ntly attributed to Rosa Luxemburg.  I am trying to trace the earliest att=
> ri=3D
>> bution to Luxemburg, or to anyone else if there were other attributions p=
> re=3D
>> dating the ones to her, and would welcome any citations or pointers to po=
> ss=3D
>> ible occurrences.
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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