Technique is noticed most markedly in the case of those who have not mastered it.
Against my protests a mausoleum was built on the Red Square, a monument unbecoming and offensive to the revolutionary consciousness.
If we had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes.
Life is not an easy matter… You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.
Abusive language and swearing are a legacy of slavery, humiliation, and disrespect for human dignity, one’s own and that of other people.
Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.
There is a limit to the application of democratic methods. You can inquire of all the passengers as to what type of car they like to ride in, but it is impossible to question them as to whether to apply the brakes when the train is at full speed and accident threatens.
The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.
Everyone has the right to be stupid on occasion, but Comrade Macdonald abuses the privilege.
Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely. But one must know the limitations of force; one must know when to blend force with a maneuver, a blow with an agreement.
Let us not forget that revolutions are accomplished through people, although they be nameless. Materialism does not ignore the feeling, thinking, and acting man, but explains him.
Revolutions are always verbose.
In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time.
Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and for ever.
If one cannot get along without a mirror, even in shaving oneself, how can one reconstruct oneself or one’s life, without seeing oneself in the mirror of literature?
From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality.
The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces – in nature, in society, in man himself.
Events can neither be regarded as a series of adventures nor strung on the thread of a preconceived moral. They must obey their own laws.
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.
The United States is not only the strongest, but also the most terrified country.
…capitalism does live by crises and booms, just as a human being lives by inhaling and exhaling.
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