Every day People straighten up the hair, why not the heart?
The guerrilla band is not to be considered inferior to the army against which it fights simply because it is inferior in fire power.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Strength and determination can outweigh conventional power in conflict.
This quote highlights the notion that numerical or technological superiority in a conflict does not necessarily determine the outcome. Guerrilla fighters, although lacking advanced weaponry, possess resilience, strategic thinking, and a deep commitment to their cause, which can enable them to effectively challenge a more powerful opponent. Che Guevara emphasizes the importance of spirit and tactics in warfare, suggesting that courage and determination can level the playing field against conventional military forces.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of determination in the face of adversity.
More from Che Guevara
All quotes →It is a revolution that came to power with its own army and on the ruins of the army of oppression.
The final hour of colonialism has struck, and millions of inhabitants of Africa, Asia and Latin America rise to meet a new life and demand their unrestricted right to self-determination.
We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it, to his home, to his centers of entertainment: a total war. It is necessary to prevent him from having a moment of peace, a quiet moment outside his barracks or even inside; we must attack him wherever he may be, make him feel like a cornered beast wherever he may move. Then his moral fiber shall begin to decline, but we shall notice how the signs of decadence begin to disappear.
This is not a story of heroic feats, or merely the narrative of a cynic; at least I do not mean it to be. It is a glimpse of two lives running parallel for a time, with similar hopes and convergent dreams.
The desire to sacrifice an entire lifetime to the noblest of ideals serves no purpose if one works alone.
Similar quotes
Could it be ... that the hero is one who is willing to set out, take the first step, shoulder something? Perhaps the hero is one who puts his foot upon a path not knowing what he may expect from life but in some way feeling in his bones that life expects something of him.
It’s a wonder I’m even alive. Sometimes I think that. I think that I can’t believe I haven’t killed myself. But there’s something in me that just keeps going on. I think it has something to do with tomorrow, that there is always one, and that everything can change when it comes.
I grew up in the South under segregation. So, I know what terrorism feels like - when your father could be taken out in the middle of the night and lynched just because he didn't look like he was in an obeying frame of mind when a white person said something he must do. I mean, that's terrorism, too.
The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down.
I approve of anyone wearing what the establishment says you must not wear.
I have a thick skin, which comes from being a not-really-skinny, dark-skinned Indian woman. I haven’t fit in every place, and so I’m kind of used to resistance.