Leon Trotsky Quotes

If you cannot convince a Fascist, acquaint his head with the pavement.

In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.

Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.

The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.

Tell me anyway--Maybe I can find the truth by comparing the lies.

The people will have the right to elect their representatives from a list of candidates [who have been approved by the Party].

As long as I breathe I hope. As long as I breathe I shall fight for the future, that radiant future, in which man, strong and beautiful, will become master of the drifting stream of his history and will direct it towards the boundless horizons of beauty, joy and happiness!

Religions are illogical primitive ignorance. There is nothing as ridiculous and tragic as a religious government.

All the parties of capitalist society, all its moralists and all its sycophants will perish beneath the debris of the impending catastrophe. The only party that will survive is the party of the world socialist revolution.

Everyone has a right to be stupid, but Comrade MacDonald abuses the privilege.

When one runs with the wolves, one must howl with the pack.

One of the most surprising things in life is the sudden realization that one has become old

Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression, and violence, and enjoy it to the full.

Our planet is being turned into a filthy and evil-smelling imperialist barrack.

There are no absolute rules of conduct, either in peace or war. Everything depends on circumstances.

He who slanders the victim aids the executioner.

The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.

In inner-party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this: the party organization substitutes itself for the party, the central committee substitutes itself for the organization, and, finally, a dictator substitutes himself for the central committee.

You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you.

Under all conditions, well-organized violence seems to him the shortest distance between two points.

The United States is not only the strongest, but also the most terrified country.

The dictatorship of the Communist Party is maintained by recourse to every form of violence.

Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely.

As a general rule, man strives to avoid labor. Love for work is not at all an inborn characteristic: it is created by economic pressure and social education. One may even say that man is a fairly lazy animal. It is on this quality, in reality, that is founded to a considerable extent all human progress; because if man did not strive to expend his energy economically, did not seek to receive the largest possible quantity of products in return for a small quantity of energy, there would have been no technical development or social culture.

In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time.