Leon Trotsky

Let a man find himself, in distinction from others, on top of two wheels with a chain – at least in a poor country like Russia – and his vanity begins to swell out like his tires. In America it takes an automobile to produce this effect.

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.

Between his consciousness and events stood always that impenetrable medium – indifference.

Not believing in force is the same as not believing in gravity.

Technique is noticed most markedly in the case of those who have not mastered it.

If we had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes.

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.

When prices go up, business goes down.

While several parties have expressed interest in buying the company, I’m not shopping it, I haven’t sold it and I’m not about to sell it.

I decided to sit quietly and do business and don’t stick your neck out and tell everybody everything belongs to me. That would only cause problems for myself. Therefore I never told these stories or declared all these things to anyone.

In Moscow I feel most comfortable. I’m used to four different seasons; it’s difficult for people in London to understand. People brought up in Russia like my kids want to play in the snow.

I never made any public statements, at least I tried never to make any public statements. I know I don’t do it well, I become very nervous, I forget what it is that I mean to say, I can’t really convey my logic and my thought to the journalists, so I decided this is not my thing, I really shouldn’t be doing it.

I must have had a dozen jobs and I got fired from all of them.

America is not a land of money but of wealth-not a land of rich people, but of successful workers.

I do not believe in excuses. I believe in hard work as the prime solvent of life’s problems.

The keystone of successful business is cooperation. Friction retards progress.

Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs.

Work is our sanity, our self-respect, our salvation. The day’s work is the center of everything.

I never trust an executive who tends to pass the buck. Nor would I want to deal with him as a customer or a supplier.

I have no Napoleonic dream. I’m just hard working and pragmatic.

Paying good wages is not charity at all-it is the best kind of business.