It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
The war is relentless: it puts the alternative in a ruthless relief: either to perish, or to catch up with the advanced countries and outdistance them, too, in economic matters.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the harsh realities of economic competition and the necessity of advancement or extinction.
Lenin's quote illustrates the intense pressures and challenges represented by economic competition among nations. It suggests that in a relentless global landscape, countries must either evolve and progress to keep pace with those more advanced or risk falling behind and facing dire consequences. The use of terms like 'relentless' and 'ruthless relief' underscores the urgency and severity of this economic struggle, indicating that survival in the modern world may depend on a nation's ability to innovate and advance economically.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about global economics, this quote could underscore the need for progressive policies.
More from Vladimir Lenin
All quotes βFor the complete extinction of the state, complete Communism is necessary.
Medicine is the keystone of the arch of socialism.
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.
We are not utopians, we do not βdreamβ 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".
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
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Think binary. When matter meets antimatter, both vanish, into pure energy. But both existed; I mean, there was a condition we'll call "existence." Think of one and minus one. Together they add up to zero, nothing, nada, niente, right? Picture them together, then picture them separating-peeling apart. ... Now you have something, you have two somethings, where once you had nothing.
It would be wonderful if the public sector were always great, or always terrible; or if the private sector were always great, or always terrible. Alas, reality is more complicated than comforting caricatures. Governments fail, and corporations fail.
But there are people who'll try to hurt you through the good they see in you--knowing that it's the good, needing it and punishing you for it. Don't let it break you when you discover that.