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Four years ago in speaking of a Jewish nation one ran the risk of being regarded ridiculous. Today he makes himself ridiculous who denies the existence of a Jewish nation.

Theodor Herzl

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Theodor Herzl
Age: 44 †
Born: 1860
Born: May 2
Died: 1904
Died: July 3
Journalist
Lawyer
Writer
Pesth
Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl
Tivadar Herzl
Talking
Speaking
Makes
Ridiculous
Today
Deny
Years
Nation
Risk
Denies
Existence
Regarded
Four
Ran
Nations
Jewish

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What We want is to make it possible for our unfortunate people to live a life of industry for it is by steady work alone that we hope for our physical and moral rehabilitation. For this reason above all we have undertaken to rally our people around our ideal.
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Zionism demands a publicly recognized and legally secured homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people. This platform is unchangeable.
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Our first object is... the obtaining of sovereignty, assured by international law, over a portion of the globe sufficiently large to satisfy our just requirements.
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Philanthropic colonization is a failure. National colonization will succeed.
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It goes without saying that the Jewish people can have no other goal than Palestine and that, whatever the fate of the proposition may be, our attitude toward the land of our fathers is and shall remain unchangeable
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Dreams and actions are not so different as usually thought, as all actions of men are founded upon dreams, and their end - is a dream too.
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If whole branches of Jews must be destroyed, it is worth it, as long as a Jewish state in Palestine is created.
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I will give you my definition of a nation, and you can add the adjective 'Jewish.' A Nation is, in my mind, an historical group of men of a recognizable cohesion held together by a common enemy. Then, if you add to that the word 'Jewish' you have what I understand to be the Jewish nation.
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The Jews who will it shall achieve their State. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and in our own homes peacefully die. The world will be liberated by our freedom, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.
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The spirit in which the offer was made must of necessity contribute to improving and alleviating the situation of the Jewish people without our renouncing one iota of the great principles upon which our movement is based.
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I believe I understand anti-Semitism which is a very complex movement. I see it as a Jew, but without hatred or fear. I recognize what is anti-Semitism is rude jesting, vulgar jealousy of métier, hereditary prejudice but also what can be considered as in fact legitimate defence.
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If you will it, it is no dream and if you do not will it, a dream it is and a dream it will stay
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I prefer being penetrated by iron to seeing Palestine is loose.
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The land which the Society of Jews will have secured by international law must naturally be privately owned.
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It is true that we aspire to our ancient land. But what we want in that ancient land is a new blossoming of the Jewish spirit.
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Were I to sum up the Basle Congress in a word- which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly- it would be this: 'At Basle, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. If not in 5 years, certainly in 50, everyone will know it.'
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In Paris... I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon. Above all, I recognized the emptiness and futility of trying to combat anti-Semitism.
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I incline to an aristocratic republic. This would satisfy the ambitious spirit among our people. We shall learn from the historic mistakes of others in the same way as we learn from our own for we are a modern nation and wish to be the most modern in the world.
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The body is a marvelous machine...a chemical laboratory, a power-house. Every movement, voluntary or involuntary, full of secrets and marvels
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We believe that salvation is to be found in wholesome work in a beloved land. Work will provide our people with the bread of tomorrow, and moreover, with the honor of the tomorrow, the freedom of the tomorrow.
Theodor Herzl