Rebel or Revolutionary?

I used to regard myself as a rebel in my teens and 20s, then my poetry and and creative endeavors seemed to speak of revolution--as in me kick starting it, makin it happen.  This quote by Rollo May has me back in the rebel mindset....because, ultimately, my outlook is toward a change in attitudes amongst the masses--who I certainly don't wish to control, but wish to nurture--to elevate my people to a more loving standard of living for themselves, and toward others.  I've been called a spirit guide.  In Christianity, I would be considered a peacekeeper.  In Buddhism, a boddhisatva.   I am an empath/clairsentient.  I think I'm becoming a new age philosopher.  And, without further adieu... here is my Quote of the Day and why today I am a rebel!  Which one are you?  Something to think about!

"I must make the important distinction between the rebel and the revolutionary. One is in ineradicable opposition to the other. The revolutionary seeks an external political change.... The origin of the term is the word revolve, literally meaning a turnover, as the revolution of a wheel. When the conditions under a given government are insufferable some groups may seek to break down that government in the conviction that any new form cannot but be better. Many revolutions, however, simply substitute one kind of government for another, the second no better than the first...which leaves the individual citizen, who has had to endure the inevitable anarchy between the two, worse off than before. Revolution may do more harm than good. The rebel ... seeks above all an internal change, a change in the attitudes, emotions, and outlook of the people to whom he is devoted. He often seems to be temperamentally unable to accept success and the ease it brings; he kicks against the pricks, and when one frontier is conquered, he soon becomes ill-at-ease and pushes on to the new frontier. He is drawn to the unquiet minds and spirits, for he shares their everlasting inability to accept stultifying control."

--Rollo May (April 21, 1909 – October 22, 1994) was an American existential psychologist.  He authored the influential book Love and Will during 1969. He is often associated with both humanistic psychology and existentialist philosophy.   May was a close friend of the theologian Paul Tillich.  His works include Love and Will and The Courage to Create, the latter title honoring Tillich's The Courage to Be. (from Wikipedia)