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Who really said it

Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God

Quoted by Susan B. Anthony
Attribution status: Verified Reuse status: Free to reuse

Anthony quoted this slogan at her trial, explicitly calling it an “old revolutionary maxim.”

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Verified quote & credit

“Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God” — Susan B. Anthony, quoting an older revolutionary maxim at her 1873 trial

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Evoking the world of Susan B. Anthony — American suffragist. Theme: "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Source
An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony
Source date
1874

Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

Read the attribution evidence

How we verified this

  • The fetched 1874 trial account records Anthony using the words while refusing her unjust fine. She introduces them as an old revolutionary maxim, so the primary record verifies her use, not her authorship. Wikiquote makes the same distinction. The trial account ↗
  • Wikiquote records Anthony’s use and warns against crediting her with originating the slogan. Use versus invention ↗
Public domain

The identified English source was published before 1931 and is public domain in the United States.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Context

Why it mattered

Anthony used the maxim while refusing to accept the legitimacy of punishment for voting. Her own reply identifies it as an older revolutionary maxim, so the trial record documents her use rather than her invention of the phrase.

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Filed under

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The author

About Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony

1820–1906 · American suffragist

Anthony was an American campaigner for women’s voting rights. Her trial following her vote in the 1872 election became a prominent occasion for arguing that women were entitled to political citizenship.

For writers & researchers

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The documented evidence

An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony (1874).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/resistance-to-tyranny-is-obedience-to-god/

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