It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
Vladimir LeninRead
Under socialism all will govern in turn and will soon become accustomed to no one governing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lenin suggests that in a socialist society, everyone will share governance which may lead to a lack of respect for authority.
In this quote, Vladimir Lenin expresses a critical perspective on socialism’s approach to governance. He suggests that the principle of collective governance in socialism will eventually teach individuals to operate without centralized authority, implying a potential challenge to the idea of leadership and the functioning of organized society. This reflects on the broader implications of governance in a socialist framework, where the cyclical nature of leadership might risk diminishing individuals' appreciation for the need for governance itself.
Themes
SocialismGovernanceAuthorityLeadershipSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about political systems in a classroom setting.
More from Vladimir Lenin
All quotes →For the complete extinction of the state, complete Communism is necessary.
Vladimir LeninRead
Medicine is the keystone of the arch of socialism.
Vladimir LeninRead
A democracy is a state which recognizes the subjection of the minority to the majority, that is, an organization for the systematic use of violence by one class against the other, by one part of the population against another.
Vladimir LeninRead
We are not utopians, we do not “dream” of dispensing at once with all administration, with all subordination. These anarchist dreams, based upon incomprehension of the tasks of the proletarian dictatorship, are totally alien to Marxism, and, as a matter of fact, serve only to postpone the socialist revolution until people are different. No, we want the socialist revolution with people as they are now, with people who cannot dispense with subordination, control, and "foremen and accountants".
Vladimir LeninRead
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir LeninRead
Similar quotes
Some deny the existence of misery by pointing to the sun; he denies the existence of the sun by pointing to misery.
Franz KafkaRead
Many people in Europe and the U.S. dispute the thesis that we are living through a clash of civilisations between Islam and the west. But a radical minority of Muslims firmly believes that Islam is under siege, and is committed to winning the holy war it has declared against the West.
Ayaan Hirsi AliRead
Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
Life is made of our attitudes. And there are certain things that the gods oblige us to live through. Their reason for this does not matter, and there is no action we can take to make them pass us by.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Freedom from labor itself is not new; it once belonged among the most firmly established privileges of the few. In this instance, it seems as though scientific progress and technical developments had been only taken advantage of to achieve something about which all former ages dreamed but which none had been able to realize.
Hannah ArendtRead
Time was something that largely happened to other people; he viewed it in the same way that people on the shore viewed the sea. It was big and it was out there, and sometimes it was an invigorating thing to dip a toe into, but you couldn't live in it all the time. Besides, it always made his skin wrinkle.
Terry PratchettRead