The great leader of the revolution, the man who raised huge proletarian masses to a nationwide uprising, the man who made a revolution in the Russian Empire and changed the course of history, marked the beginning of a new era, is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known to history as Lenin. In this article, you will see selected quotes from Lenin that reveal his worldview. We will consider the politician's attitude to various aspects of life and our history.
Lenin Quotes: A Few Preliminary Remarks
Some of the leader's words were documented in the newspapers of that time, verbatim extracts from party congresses, confirmed by eyewitnesses of the revolution and its events. Vladimir Ilyich spoke out a lot on a variety of issues, he undoubtedly possessed oratorical skills, skillfully used his talent to convince a huge number of people of the correctness of his judgments.
Lenin's quotes are popular and to some extent relevant to this day. Already in May 1904, Vladimir Ilyich expressed a philosophical thought, he declared that there is no abstract truth, on the contrary, truth is always concrete. Lenin's quotes about the revolution are drawn by us from primary sources, it was the words about ideology, truth, social guidelines and tasks of the revolutionary movement that were expressed by the leader in reports like "One step forward, two steps back."
Lenin on religion
Not everyone can take the responsibility to interpret the words of the great red leader, but in his quote "The unity in the real struggle of the oppressed class for the creation of paradise on earth is more important ... than the unanimity of the proletarians about paradise in heaven ..." Vladimir Ilyich obviously said about the need to leave the intimate question of faith to the independent resolution of each member of society. However, as you know, it was during the revolutionary era that churches were actively destroyed, and the people serving in them were subjected to persecution and physical destruction.
Lenin's quotes about religion are quite controversial. Vladimir Ilyich said that the party is obliged to oppose religion, but at the same time one can see statements of this kind: "Every person can freely confess<любую>religion or not to profess any of the existing ones..." A rather liberal idea, the reflection of which can be found in the constitution of modern Russia.
Lenin on the national question
It is known for certain that Lenin supported the Irish National Resistance and the uprising in 1916. The very idea of imperialism disgusted Lenin, so the oppressed Irish minority could not be assessed otherwise than positively. However, the revolutionary era was crowned with the oppression of national minorities in the USSR.
Lenin on art
Lenin's famous quote about cinema is: "Of all the arts, cinema is the most important for us." It was films, according to Lenin, that were the most powerful tool of political and ideological agitation and propaganda. The unknown author somewhat distorted the quote in his own way, to some extent revealing the interlinear meaning of what the revolutionary said, the author added at the beginning the words "As long as the people remain illiterate ...". In a corrected form, Lenin's quotation explains the leader's desire to use public opinion "for the benefit of the revolution."
However, not all of Lenin's quotes are reliably confirmed, for example, the leader also claimed that art belongs to the people, but this quote is not confirmed.
Lenin about Russian people
The worldview of a Russian person is a unique, almost inexplicable phenomenon that was described by the classics of Russian literature, political scientists and even the leaders of the revolution themselves. There is an opinion that Lenin was a real Russophobe, but since there could be no public statements of hatred for the Russian people and Russian culture, all this is still just a rumor.
The Ulyanov family included Germans, Swedes, and Kalmyks with Chuvashs. The very discipline of the leader, his habit of going to bed and waking up at the same exact time is a reliable confirmation of this. It is known that Lenin's mother contributed to his upbringing in German traditions, blaming the laziness of the "Russian Ivanushka the Fool." Dealing with the revolution, Lenin often had to give cruel orders to destroy the Russian people, for example, a whole stage of the revolution was the destruction of the Cossacks on the Don.
Other leader quotes
Vladimir Ilyich spoke of the revolution in the following way: "The revolution is not made with white gloves," hinting that the White Guards had no idea about the needs of the socialist and democratic revolution.
"Study, study and study" - this is another popular phrase of the leader among the people, which he uttered in one of his printed works. Sharply V. I. Lenin condemned such a human quality as hypocrisy: "Honesty in politics is the result of strength, and hypocrisy is the result of weakness."
Lenin recognized objective truths: " It is impossible to live in society and be free from society. " Lenin spoke of the victory as follows: " Only then will we learn to win when we are not afraid to admit our defeats and shortcomings.” Thanks to Lenin, modern politicians often resort to the catchphrase “political prostitute”.
On January 21, 1924, Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), the ideological inspirer of the October Revolution of 1917 and the first leader of the Soviet state, passed away. In the years that have passed since the death of the leader, a real cult of Lenin was created. His body still lies in the center of the capital as a symbol of an entire era. We have collected excerpts from the multi-volume works of Lenin and the declassified telegrams of Ilyich.
Ilyich's declassified telegrams
1 “…Great plan! Finish it with Dzerzhinsky. Under the guise of “greens” (we will blame them later), we will go 10-20 miles and hang kulaks, priests, landlords. Prize: 100.000 rubles for the hanged man…”
- (Litvin A. L. "Red and White terror in Russia in 1917-1922")
2 “A life-and-death war for the rich and hangers-on, bourgeois intellectuals... they must be dealt with, at the slightest violation... In one place they will be put in jail... In another, they will be put in to clean toilets. In the third, they will provide them with yellow tickets upon departure of the punishment cell ... In the fourth, they will be shot on the spot ... The more diverse, the better, the richer the overall experience will be ... "
- December 24 – 27, 1917
3 “... Can you still tell Teru to prepare everything for burning Baku completely, in case of an invasion, and to announce it in print in Baku.”
- June 3, 1918 (Volkogonov D.A. Lenin. Political portrait. Lenin's handwritten order to the chairman of the Baku Cheka S. Ter-Gabrielyan)
4 “Penza, Provincial Executive Committee. ... to carry out a merciless mass terror against kulaks, priests and White Guards; doubtful ones to be locked up in a concentration camp outside the city.”
- August 9, 1918
5 “To Comrades Kuraev, Bosch, Minkin and other Penza communists:
“Comrades! The uprising of the five volosts of the kulaks must lead to merciless suppression. The interest of the entire revolution demands this, for now the "last decisive battle" with the kulaks has been taken. You have to give a sample.
Hang (definitely hang so that the people can see) at least 100 notorious kulaks, rich men, bloodsuckers.
Take away all their bread.
Appoint hostages - according to yesterday's telegram.
Make it so that for hundreds of miles around the people see, tremble, know, shout: they are strangling and will strangle the bloodsuckers of the kulaks.
Wire receipt and execution.
Your Lenin.
- (Latyshev A.G. Declassified Lenin. M., 1996. S. 57.)
6 “Saratov, (to the Commissioner of the People's Commissariat for Food) Pikes. ... I advise you to appoint your superiors and shoot the conspirators and those who hesitate, without asking anyone and not allowing idiotic red tape.
- August 22, 1918
Surprised and dismayed by the slowdown in the operation against Kazan, especially if what I have been told is true that you have a full opportunity to destroy the enemy with artillery. In my opinion, it is impossible to spare the city and postpone it longer, because merciless extermination is necessary ... "
- September 10, 1918
8 “As for foreigners, I advise you not to hurry with expulsion. Wouldn't it be better to go to a concentration camp ... "
- June 3, 1919
9 “All foreign nationals living on the territory of the RSFSR from the ranks of the bourgeoisie of those states that are conducting hostile and military operations against us, at the age of 17 to 55 years, should be imprisoned in concentration camps ...”
- (Latyshev A.G. Declassified Lenin. M., 1996, p. 56)
10 “…by no means all the peasants understand that the free trade in grain is a crime against the state. "I have produced bread, this is my product, and I have the right to trade it" - this is how the peasant argues, out of habit, in the old days. And we say that this is a state crime.”
- November 19, 1919
11 "T. Lunacharsky:
... I advise you to put all theaters in a coffin. The People's Commissar of Education should not be engaged in theater, but in teaching literacy.
- Lenin, August 26, 1921
12 “... I come to the unconditional conclusion that right now we must give the most decisive and merciless battle to the Black Hundred clergy and crush their resistance with such cruelty that they will not forget this for several decades ...
The more representatives of the reactionary clergy and the reactionary bourgeoisie we manage to shoot on this occasion, the better.”
- March 19, 1922 (News of the Central Committee of the CPSU. 1990. No. 4. P. 190-193)
13 “…Take military measures, i.e. try to punish Latvia and Estland in a military way (for example, “on the shoulders” of Balakhovich, cross the border somewhere for 1 verst and hang 100–1000 of their officials and rich people there)”.
It was not in vain that Vladimir Lenin became a well-known publicist, which allowed him to start a political career in the Bolshevik Party. A native of Simbirsk was well-read and rich in language. This allowed him to use a variety of catch phrases in his public speeches, which, thanks to Soviet propaganda, went to the people. Lenin's quotes are often used in everyday speech, and sometimes people do not even realize that some phrases belong to the leader of the proletariat.
"There is such a party!"
One of Lenin's most famous phrases is the exclamation "There is such a party!". In the summer of 1917, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets was held in Petrograd. It was attended by representatives of various parties, including the Bolsheviks.
Chairman Irakli Tsereteli asked those present in the hall whether there is a party that is ready to take power into its own hands at a difficult moment for the country and be responsible for all its decisions in such a difficult situation. The question was asked for a reason, because for several months the most diverse sections of Russian society were dissatisfied with the Provisional Government and its decisions. But no one saw an obvious alternative to the existing government.
In response to Tsereteli's question, Lenin, who was also present at the congress, stood up. He declared: "There is such a party!", referring to his own Bolshevik party. The hall responded with applause and laughter. No one could imagine that the Bolsheviks would come to power, and Lenin's quotes would come true.
"Who does not work shall not eat"
Many of Lenin's quotations ended up in his critical articles. Most of Ulyanov's journalistic activity fell on the years of emigration, however, even during the existence of the USSR, he continued to be published, this time in millions of copies.
For example, his phrase "Who does not work, he does not eat" has become widespread. With this passage, Lenin criticized the parasites who did not help the young Soviet economy develop against the backdrop of the consequences of the Civil War. It is interesting that a similar phrase is found in the Bible, but in a slightly different form. Lenin himself considered the call to work the main commandment of socialism, on which the ideology of the Soviet state should be based. The phrase became widespread in May 1918, when it appeared in a letter from a revolutionary to the Petrograd workers. A little later, the slogan "Who does not work, he does not eat" was directly used in the first Constitution of the RSFSR.
"Study, study, study!"
The call "Learn, study, study!" was also used by Soviet propaganda to motivate the masses. Most likely, Lenin used this phrase in one of his articles after reading Chekhov. In the story “My Life”, the classic of literature was marked by a similar appeal.
Ilyich did not like the education system under the tsarist government. This explains what Lenin said about the Russians. The leader's quotes about education were often used in the interiors of schools and universities in the Soviet Union.
"We'll go the other way"
One of Lenin's most mythologized phrases is rightfully considered the replica "We will go the other way." According to the point of view of the official Soviet ideology, young Volodya uttered it after he learned about the death of his older brother and was executed for his intention to deal with Emperor Alexander III. Lenin, by his phrase, meant that his future struggle against the tsarist regime would be based not on individual terror, but on propaganda among the masses. In Soviet and Russian life, this phrase is already used without reference to the revolutionary events of the 20th century, but refers directly to the topic of conversation.
A lot of Lenin's statements have entered everyday life, becoming commonplace phrases. People quote them, often without knowing the source. I have collected one hundred of the most famous sayings of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Test yourself - if you like some of them and use them regularly - then maybe you yourself are a Bolshevik? ;)
2. There is no abstract truth, truth is always concrete
3. Everything in the world has two sides
4. You must be able to take into account the moment and be bold in decisions.
5. It is better to tell the truth unsuccessfully than to keep silent about it if the matter is serious.
6. It is the youth who will have the real task of creating a communist society.
7. Any extreme is not good; everything good and useful, taken to an extreme, can become and even, beyond a certain limit, necessarily becomes evil and harm
8. There can be no revolutionary movement without a revolutionary theory
9. The rich and the crooks are two sides of the same coin.
10. Big words should not be thrown to the wind.
11. War is a test of all the economic and organizational forces of every nation.
12. Anger generally plays the worst role in politics.
13. The universal faith in the revolution is already the beginning of the revolution
14. The power of the central institution must be based on moral and mental authority.
15. If I know that I know little, I will succeed in knowing more.
16. Smart is not the one who does not make mistakes. Clever is the one who can easily and quickly correct them
17. Words oblige to deeds
18. One must be careful not to cross the line in criticism of shortcomings, where gossip begins.
19. In a personal sense, the difference between a traitor in weakness and a traitor in intent and calculation is very great; there is no political difference
20. It is impossible to live in society and be free from society
21. Ideas become power when they take hold of the masses.
22. Indifference is the silent support of the one who is strong, the one who dominates
23. Equality under the law is not yet equality in life
24. Despair is characteristic of those who do not understand the causes of evil
25. Of all the arts, cinema is the most important for us.
26. Art belongs to the people. It must have its deepest roots in the very depths of the broad working masses. It must unite the feeling, thought and will of these masses, raise them. It should awaken the artists in them and develop them
27. The capitalists are ready to sell us a rope with which we will hang them.
28. A book is a huge power
29. Any state is oppression. The workers are obliged to fight even against the Soviet state - and at the same time protect it like the apple of their eye
30. People have always been and always will be stupid victims of deception and self-deception in politics until they learn to look for the interests of certain classes behind any moral, religious, political, social phrases, statements, promises.
31. No one is guilty if he was born a slave; but a slave who not only eschews the desire for his freedom, but justifies and embellishes his slavery, such a slave is a lackey and a boor who evokes a legitimate feeling of indignation, contempt and disgust
32. We must fight religion. This is the ABC of all materialism and, consequently, of Marxism. But Marxism is not materialism that stops at the ABC. Marxism goes further. He says: one must be able to fight against religion, and for this it is necessary to explain materialistically the source of faith and religion among the masses.
33. It is necessary to systematically set about ensuring that the work of creating a press that does not amuse or fool the masses is carried out.
34. One must be able to work with the human material that is available. Other people will not be given to us
35. Do not be afraid to admit your mistakes, do not be afraid of repeated, repeated work to correct them - and we will be at the very top
36. Defeat is not so dangerous as the fear of admitting defeat is dangerous.
37. Ignorance is less far from the truth than prejudice
38. The deepest source of religious prejudice is poverty and darkness; we must fight this evil
39. In sexual life, not only what is given by nature, but also introduced by culture is manifested.
40. Morality serves to raise human society higher
41. A person's shortcomings are, as it were, a continuation of his merits. But if the virtues continue longer than necessary, are not found when it is necessary, and not where it is necessary, then they are disadvantages.
42. Patriotism is one of the deepest feelings, fixed for centuries and millennia of isolated fatherlands.
43. As long as there is a state, there is no freedom. When there is freedom, there will be no state
44. Politics is the most concentrated expression of economics
45. Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country
46. We will work to introduce into the consciousness, into habit, into everyday life of the masses the rule: “all for one and one for all”, the rule: “to each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”, in order to introduce gradually but steadily communist discipline and communist labor
47. Communism is the highest, against capitalist, productivity of labor of voluntary, conscious, united, workers using advanced technology.
48. Communism is the highest stage in the development of socialism, when people work from the consciousness of the need to work for the common good.
49. The revolution of the proletariat will completely destroy the division of society into classes, and consequently, all social and political inequality.
50. Political events are always very intricate and complex. They can be compared to a chain. To hold the whole chain, you need to cling to the main link
51. Less political chatter. Less intelligent reasoning. Closer to life
52. Revolutions are not made in white gloves
53. The most dangerous thing in war is to underestimate the enemy and rest on the fact that we are stronger
54. Telling a lie is easy. But sometimes it takes a lot of time to find the truth.
55. Talent is rare. It must be systematically and carefully maintained
56. Talent should be encouraged
57. With inventors, even if they are a little capricious, one must be able to deal with
58. We can't do without romance. Better an excess of it than a deficiency. We have always sympathized with the revolutionary romantics, even when we did not agree with them.
59. In every fairy tale there are elements of reality
60. Fantasy is the quality of the greatest value
61. It is necessary to learn that without a machine, without discipline, it is impossible to live in modern society - either you must overcome the highest technology, or be crushed
62. An economist must always look ahead, towards the progress of technology, otherwise he will immediately find himself lagging behind, for whoever does not want to look forward turns his back on history
63. Ignorance is not an argument
64. The human mind has discovered many outlandish things in nature and will discover even more, thereby increasing its power over it.
65. Only then will we learn to win when we are not afraid to admit our defeats and shortcomings
66. Honesty in politics is the result of strength, hypocrisy is the result of weakness
67. Study, study and study!
68. The rise of the general cultural level of the masses will create that firm, healthy soil from which powerful, inexhaustible forces will grow for the development of art, science and technology.
69. From living contemplation to abstract thinking and from it to practice - such is the dialectical path of knowing the truth, knowing objective reality
70. Truth cannot be found in any serious issue without a certain independent labor, and whoever is afraid of labor deprives himself of the opportunity to find the truth.
71. We must carefully study the sprouts of the new, treat them most attentively, help their growth in every possible way.
72. Honesty in politics is the result of strength, hypocrisy is the result of weakness
73. Lawyers should be taken with an iron fist and put in a state of siege, because this intellectual bastard often plays dirty tricks
74. Less is better
75. We rob the loot
76. Broken armies learn well
77. Religion is a kind of spiritual sivuha
78. Intelligentsia is not the brain of the nation, but shit
79. I love it when people swear, which means they know what they are doing and have a line
80. Throwing loud phrases is a property of the declassed petty-bourgeois intelligentsia ... We must tell the masses the bitter truth simply, clearly, directly
81. We do not need cramming, but we need to develop and improve the memory of each student by knowing the basic facts
82. School outside of life, outside of politics - this is a lie and hypocrisy
83. First of all, we put forward the broadest public education and upbringing. It sets the stage for culture
84. Workers are drawn to knowledge because they need it to win.
85. From a small mistake, you can always make a monstrously big one, if you insist on the mistake, if you substantiate it in depth, if you "bring it to the end"
86. Do not be afraid to admit your mistakes, do not be afraid of repeated, repeated work to correct them - and we will be at the very top
87. Analyzing the mistakes of yesterday, we thereby learn to avoid mistakes today and tomorrow
88. Smart is not the one who does not make mistakes. Such people do not exist and cannot exist. Smart is the one who makes mistakes that are not very significant, and who knows how to easily and quickly correct them.
89. If we are not afraid to speak even the bitter and hard truth straight out, we will learn, certainly and unconditionally learn to overcome all and all difficulties.
90. One must have the courage to face the unvarnished bitter truth
91. Do not deceive yourself with lies. It is harmful
92. Self-criticism is unquestionably necessary for any living and vital party. There is nothing more vulgar than self-satisfied optimism
93. A person needs an ideal, but human, corresponding to nature, and not supernatural
94. Do not philosophize slyly, do not boast with communism, do not cover up negligence, idleness, Oblomovism, backwardness with great words
95. Check all your work so that words do not remain words, practical successes in economic construction.
96. A person is judged not by what he says or thinks about himself, but by what he does
97. Work has made us the force that unites all working people
98. There are such winged words that express the essence of rather complex phenomena with amazing accuracy.
99. Cooperation between representatives of science and workers - only such cooperation will be able to destroy the entire oppression of poverty, disease, dirt. And it will be done. No dark force can resist the union of representatives of science, the proletariat and technology
100. The one who does nothing practical is not mistaken
On January 21, 1924, Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), the ideological inspirer of the October Revolution of 1917 and the first leader of the Soviet state, passed away. In the years that have passed since the death of the leader, a real cult of Lenin was created. His body still lies in the center of the capital as a symbol of an entire era. We have collected excerpts from the multi-volume works of Lenin and the declassified telegrams of Ilyich.
Litvin A. L. "Red and White Terror in Russia in 1917-1922"
“…Great plan! Finish it with Dzerzhinsky. Under the guise of “greens” (we will blame them later), we will go 10-20 miles and hang kulaks, priests, landowners. Prize: 100.000 rubles for the hanged man…”
December 24 - 27, 1917 (Lenin V.I. Complete collection of works. T. 35. S. 200, 201, 204. - From the work “How to organize a competition?”)
“The war is not for life, but for death for the rich and hangers-on, bourgeois intellectuals ... they must be dealt with, at the slightest violation ... In one place they will be imprisoned ... In another, they will be put in to clean the toilets. In the third, they will provide them with yellow tickets upon departure of the punishment cell ... In the fourth, they will be shot on the spot ... The more diverse, the better, the richer the overall experience will be ... "
June 3, 1918 (Volkogonov D.A. Lenin. Political portrait.
Lenin's handwritten order to the chairman of the Baku Cheka S. Ter-Gabrielyan)
“... Can you still tell Teru to prepare everything for burning Baku completely, in case of an invasion, and to announce it in print in Baku.”
August 9, 1918 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 50. S. 143-144).
"Penza, Gubispolkom. ... to carry out a merciless mass terror against kulaks, priests and White Guards; doubtful ones to be locked up in a concentration camp outside the city.”
(Latyshev A.G. Declassified Lenin. M., 1996. P. 57.).
“To Comrades Kuraev, Bosch, Minkin and other Penza communists. Comrades! The uprising of the five volosts of the kulaks must lead to merciless suppression. The interest of the entire revolution demands this, for now the "last decisive battle" with the kulaks has been taken. You have to give a sample. Hang (definitely hang so that the people can see) at least 100 notorious kulaks, rich men, bloodsuckers. Publish their names. Take away all their bread. Appoint hostages - according to yesterday's telegram. Make it so that for hundreds of miles around the people see, tremble, know, shout: they are strangling and will strangle the bloodsuckers of the kulaks. Wire receipt and execution. Your Lenin.
August 22, 1918 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 50. P. 165).
“Saratov, (to the Commissioner of the People's Commissariat for Food) Pikes. ... I advise you to appoint your superiors and shoot the conspirators and those who hesitate, without asking anyone and not allowing idiotic red tape.
September 10, 1918 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T.50. S. 178).
"Sviyazhsk, Trotsky. Surprised and dismayed by the slowdown in the operation against Kazan, especially if what I have been told is true that you have a full opportunity to destroy the enemy with artillery. In my opinion, it is impossible to spare the city and postpone it longer, because merciless extermination is necessary ... "
June 3, 1919 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 50. S. 335).
“As for foreigners, I advise you not to hurry with expulsion. Wouldn't it be better to go to a concentration camp ... "
(Latyshev A.G. Declassified Lenin. M., 1996, p. 56).
“All foreign nationals living on the territory of the RSFSR from the ranks of the bourgeoisie of those states that are conducting hostile and military actions against us, at the age of 17 to 55 years, should be imprisoned in concentration camps ...”
November 19, 1919 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 39. P. 315).
“… far from all the peasants understand that the free trade in grain is a crime against the state. "I have produced bread, this is my product, and I have the right to trade it" - this is how the peasant argues, out of habit, in the old days. And we say that this is a state crime.”
Lenin, August 26, 1921 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 53. P. 142.)
"T. Lunacharsky ... I advise you to put all the theaters in a coffin. The People's Commissar of Education should not be engaged in theater, but in teaching literacy.
March 19, 1922 (News of the Central Committee of the CPSU. 1990. No. 4. S. 190-193).
“... I come to the unconditional conclusion that right now we must give the most decisive and merciless battle to the Black Hundred clergy and suppress their resistance with such cruelty that they will not forget this for several decades ... The more representatives of the reactionary clergy and the reactionary bourgeoisie we succeed on this occasion to shoot, the better.
Lenin, August 1920 (Latyshev A.G. Declassified Lenin. M., 1996).
“... Take military measures, i.e. try to punish Latvia and Estland in a military way (for example, “on the shoulders” of Balakhovich, cross the border somewhere for 1 verst and hang 100–1000 of their officials and rich people there)”.
May 17, 1922 (Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 45. P. 190).
“... The court must not eliminate terror; to promise this would be self-deception or deceit, but to substantiate and legitimize it in principle, clearly, without falsehood and without embellishment.
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