In 1880 French libertarian socialist Louis-Auguste Blanqui entitled an anarchist newspaper Ni dieu ni maitre. The term has become then the anarchist movement motto.
Portrait of Louis-Auguste Blanqui by Antoine Joseph Wiertz, Belgian romantic painter and sculptor.
Sitôt que l'esprit humain cesse de comprendre, il dit Dieu.
Soon as the human mind stop understanding, it says God.
Soon as the human mind stop understanding, it says God.
Most anarchists agree on a slogan to define their ideology, Ni dieu ni maitre (Neither God nor Master). The phrase does not insult the spiritual beliefs of individuals or groups but rather the need to fight all those who use religion to control the thinking and actions of believers and nonbelievers. Similarly, do not obey a master does not mean ignoring the diagnosis of a doctor when he says there is a disease, but rather the refusal of any physical or mental coercion from an illegitimate authority whatsoever. The state police and the owners do not simply inform us of a situation and then leave us to decide for ourselves what choices we prefer. They force us under the threat of violence and hunger. They force us to serve them, obey them and die in wars they created.
-- Excerpt from Common Cause # 9, Newspaper of NEFAC (Federation of Libertarian Communists Northeast) Quebec, Canada
Google helped me to translate this (just a little bit gnangnan) definition of the motto from Encyclopédie des expressions
One of the most recognizable and irreverent French comic book artists, Reiser, also liked the phrase. Smiley.
Happy people make me shit!
♥
First I hand embroidered the four words.
The dark side of the felt reveals a strange coded language I don't understand.
Then I reduced the slogan into tattoo style parchment flags.
Needed supplies: cotton stuffing, thread, felt and my smiling (why not) cardboard heart shaped template.
Almost done.
Ok, now we've got a reversible anarchist miniature felt heart ornament plush, aaahh.
Thank you for your interest in my work.