100+ Joseph Stalin Quotes: Timeless Words of Power and Leadership
In exploring the quotes of Joseph Stalin, we delve into a complex tapestry of words that reflect the ideology, strategies, and paradoxes of one of history's most impactful leaders. Stalin's quotes cover a broad range of topics including power, politics, leadership, fear, victory, and more. His rhetoric, often sharp and sometimes unsettling, provides insight into the mindset that influenced much of the 20th century. The following collection compiles famous and lesser-known quotes, offering a glimpse into Stalin's perception and manipulation of world affairs, his party, and himself. By reflecting on these quotes, one can better understand the motivations and psychology behind Stalin's policies and the era he helped shape.
“The only real power comes out of a long rifle.”
“Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don't let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?”
“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
“The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.”
“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”
“We don't let them have ideas. Why would we let them have any votes?”
“History has shown there are no invincible armies.”
“Divide the enemy’s troops into a dozen factions, each fighting the other. The victorious disarmed faction will place their weapons in our hands.”
“The writer is the engineer of the human soul.”
“In the Soviet army, it takes more courage to retreat than advance.”
“When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope we use.”
“Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.”
“I trust no one, not even myself.”
“The people who count the votes decide everything.”
“A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron.”
“The Pope? How many divisions does he have?”
“One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.”
“The Soviet Union was founded by people who were brave, creative, and true believers. We must keep this same spirit alive.”
“No man - no problem.”
“The greatest delight is to keep the enemy in fear.”
“The victory of socialism will be achieved by all the workers' parties.”
“Quantity has a quality all its own.”
“It is not heroes that make history, but history that makes heroes.”
“I believe in only one thing – the power of human will.”
“One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
“Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.”
“In the battle between you and the world, back the world.”
“A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.”
“There are no fortresses that Bolsheviks cannot storm.”
“Gratitude is a disease of dogs.”
“We don't let them have ideas. Why would we let them have guns?”
“When there's a person, there's a problem. When there’s no person, there’s no problem.”
“This war is not as in the past: whoever occupies a territory also imposes his own social system as far as his army can reach.”
“The press must grow day in and day out – it is our Party's sharpest and most powerful weapon.”
“The only way a Soviet Communist Party member can take over the reins of leadership is by a coup.”
“If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.”
“Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union.”
“To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plans minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then to go to bed... there is nothing sweeter in the world.”
“Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach.”
“History shows that there are no invincible armies.”
“The people need love. It’s not enough that you love them. That’s not enough. They must feel that you love them.”
“Writers are the engineers of the human soul.”
“Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.”
“Victory is worth any sacrifice. This is our duty to all the People of the Soviet Union.”
“The only thing Stalin enjoys more than a rapid rise to power is the purge that follows.”
“The rich experience of history teaches us that up to now not a single class society has perished by a spontaneous collapse or death from old age.”
“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.”
“There is no fortresses that Bolsheviks cannot storm.”
“When we hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope we use.”
“The Soviet government is the most successful peace-lover.”
“Mankind can never be free until the last capitalist, hanging from the guts of the last priest, has been strangled out of our civilization.”
“The Red Army is advancing all around, exert pressure and we will win.”
“It is difficult for me to imagine what 'personal liberty' is enjoyed by an unemployed person who goes about hungry and cannot find employment.”
“You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves.”
“The only real power comes out of a long rifle.”
“The press must grow day in and day out–it is our Party's sharpest and most powerful weapon.”
“The victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
“When one makes a revolution, one cannot mark time; one must always go forward or go back.”
“Revolution is war. Of all the wars known in history it is the only lawful, rightful, just, and truly great war.”
“In war, it is not heroes that win but decisions correctly made.”
“One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is just a statistic.”
“There is no such thing as a former KGB man.”
“It's not heroes that make history, but history that makes heroes.”
“Death solves all problems - no man, no problem.”
“I believe in one thing only, the power of human will.”
“If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.”
“You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves.”
“History shows there are no invincible leaders.”
“A crisis in the Party is inevitable.”
“History shows that the potential danger is vast.”
“We need death. Conclusion: multiply death in our country, increase the losses of our enemies. Neither at war nor abroad, here nor there.”
“The merit of this Bolshevik conquest is in its discipline, in its mobilization of the power of the proletariat.”
“Socialism in one country is what this nation needs, independent from the decadent West.”
“Our fatherland has not been justly treated, oh no it has not!”
“Nobody respects a nation with empty granaries.”
“A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron.”
“Communism is Sov
