Leon Trotsky

“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.”

“Everything is relative in this world, where change alone endures.”

“[Letter to his wife, Natalia Sedova] In addition to the happiness of being a fighter for the cause of socialism, fate gave me the happiness of being her husband. During the almost forty year...”

“Life is not an easy matter... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above w...”

“Events can neither be regarded as a series of adventures nor strung on the thread of a preconceived moral. They must obey their own laws.”

“Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely. But one must know the limitations of force; one must know when to blend force with a maneuver, a blow wi...”

“The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces - in nature, in society, in man himself.”

“Let a man find himself, in distinction from others, on top of two wheels with a chain - at least in a poor country like Russia - and his vanity begins to swell out like his tires. In America...”

“There is a limit to the application of democratic methods. You can inquire of all the passengers as to what type of car they like to ride in, but it is impossible to question them as to whet...”

“Fascism is nothing but capitalist reaction.”

“Everyone has the right to be stupid on occasion, but Comrade Macdonald abuses the privilege.”

“Learning carries within itself certain dangers because out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies.”

“If we had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes.”

“The dynamic of revolutionary events is directly determined by swift, intense, and passionate changes in the psychology of classes which have already formed themselves before the revolution.”

“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...”

“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.”

“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.”

“In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time.”

“Technique is noticed most markedly in the case of those who have not mastered it.”

“From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality.”