Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.
Leon TrotskyRead
From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a shift from an idealized perception of a nation's people to a harsh and brutal truth about their circumstances.
Leon Trotsky's quote suggests a transformation in how the Russian people are perceived, moving from an elevated, almost mythical status to confronting the stark and painful realities of their existence. This shift implies that the once glorified image of patriotism has been replaced by the recognition of suffering, oppression, and struggle, highlighting the complexities of human experience within political contexts.
Themes
PatriotismRealityPoliticsSufferingChange
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the impacts of war on societies, one might use this quote to illustrate the disillusionment that often follows nationalistic sentiments.
More from Leon Trotsky
All quotes βAbusive language and swearing are a legacy of slavery, humiliation, and disrespect for human dignity, oneβs own and that of other people.
Leon TrotskyRead
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 The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.
Leon TrotskyRead
Man will become immeasurably stronger, wiser, and subtler; his body will become more harmonious, his movements more rhythmic, his voice more musical. The forms of life will become dynamically dramatic. The average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. And above these heights, new peaks will rise.
Leon TrotskyRead
The masses go into a revolution not with a prepared plan of social reconstruction, but with a sharp feeling that they cannot endure the old regime. Only the guiding layers of a class have a political program, and even this still requires the test of events and the approval of the masses.
Leon TrotskyRead
History has different yardsticks for the cruelty of the Northerners and the cruelty of the Southerners in the Civil War. A slave-owner who through cunning and violence shackles a slave in chains, and a slave who through cunning or violence breaks the chains β let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!
Leon TrotskyRead
Similar quotes
Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering β for us. And calling us to share in Godβs suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope.
Henri NouwenRead
Being equally convinced that aggression and rudeness are synonymous with having a "powerful personality."
Paulo CoelhoRead
To will is human, to will the bad is of fallen nature, but to will the good is of Grace.
John CalvinRead
The invention of ethical and political doctrines, which blossomed into our own social sciences, is a product of times when things appeared manageable. The same goes for the criticism of those doctrines, though as a voice from the past, this criticism proved prophetic.
Joseph BrodskyRead
The cross solved our problem by first revealing our real problem, our universal pattern of scapegoating and sacrificing others. The cross exposes forever the scene of our crime.
Richard RohrRead
The sun too penetrates into privies, but is not polluted by them.
DiogenesRead