I only know that the right men will be there when the people really want them, for it is movements that make leaders and not leaders movements.
 George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius (1941). copy citation

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Author George Orwell
Source The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
Topic movement right
Date 1941
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and...

Context

“But even without an election we can get the government we want, provided that we want it urgently enough. A real shove from below will accomplish it. As to who will be in that government when it comes, I make no guess. I only know that the right men will be there when the people really want them, for it is movements that make leaders and not leaders movements. Within a year, perhaps even within six months, if we are still unconquered, we shall see the rise of something that has never existed before, a specifically English Socialist movement. Hitherto there has been only the Labour Party, which was the creation of the working class but did not aim at any fundamental change, and Marxism, which was a German theory interpreted by Russians and unsuccessfully transplanted to England.” source