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@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023
Charles Haddon Spurgeon photo
Charles Haddon Spurgeon photo
Charles Haddon Spurgeon photo
Charles Haddon Spurgeon photo
Charles Haddon Spurgeon photo
Charles Haddon Spurgeon photo
Joseph Stalin photo
Joseph Stalin photo

“If you are afraid of wolves, keep out of the woods.”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

On the Draft Constitution of the U.S.S.R. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1936/11/25.htm, 25 November 1936. <br class="br">Stalin&#x27;s speeches, writings and authorised interviews

Joseph Stalin photo
Joseph Stalin photo

“The Communists base themselves on rich historical experience which teaches that obsolete classes do not voluntarily abandon the stage of history.”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

“Stalin-Wells Talk: The Verbatim Report and A Discussion”, G.B. Shaw, J.M. Keynes et al., London, The New Statesman and Nation, (1934) p. 13
Stalin's speeches, writings and authorised interviews

Joseph Stalin photo

“he Party is the highest form of organisation of the proletariat. The Party is the principle guiding force within the class of the proletarians and among the organisations of that class. But it does not by any means follow from this that the Party can be regarded as an end in itself, as a self-sufficient force. The Party is not only the highest form of class association of the proletarians; it is at the same time an instrument in the hands of the proletariatfor achieving the dictatorship, when that has not yet been achieved and for consolidating and expanding the dictatorship when it has already been achieved. The Party could not have risen so high in importance and could not have exerted its influence over all other forms of organisations of the proletariat, if the latter had not been confronted with the question of power, if the conditions of imperialism, the inevitability of wars, and the existence of a crisis had not yet demanded the concentration of all the forces of the proletariat at one point, the gathering of all the threads of the revolutionary movement in one spot in order to overthrow the bourgeoisie and to achieve the dictatorship of the proletariat. The proletariat needs the Party first of all as its General Staff, which it must have for the successful seizure of power. It scarcely needs proof that without a party capable of rallying around itself the mass organisations of the proletariat, and of centralising the leadership of the entire movement during the progress of the struggle, the proletariat in Russia could not have established its revolutionary dictatorship.”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Source: The Problems of Leninism, Ch.8

Joseph Stalin photo

“We do not want a single foot of foreign territory; but of our territory we shall not surrender a single inch to anyone.”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Russian: Чужой земли мы не хотим ни пяди, но и своей вершка ни отдадим.<br><br> Political Report of the C.C. to XVI Party Congress (29 June 1930) http://marx2mao.com/Stalin/SC30.html <br class="br">Stalin&#x27;s speeches, writings and authorised interviews

Joseph Stalin photo

“Having consolidated its power, and taking the lead of the peasantry, the proletariat of the victorious country can and must build a socialist society.”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Problems of Leninism, August 1924 edition
The Foundations of Leninism

Joseph Stalin photo

“We must finally understand that of all the precious capital in the world, the most precious capital, the most decisive capital, is human beings […]. Cadres decide everything!”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2495035?uid=3738776&amp;uid=2&amp;uid=4&amp;sid=21104844992271 <br class="br">A more accurate translation, with respect to the context, might read: &quot;Cadres are the key to everything&quot; <br class="br">In Russian: [...] из всех ценных капиталов, имеющихся в мире, самым ценным и самым решающим капиталом являются люди [...]. Кадры решают все! <br class="br"> Address to the Graduates from the Red Army Academies http://marx2mao.com/Stalin/GRA35.html. (4 May 1935); Variant translation: Human resources solve all! <br class="br">Stalin&#x27;s speeches, writings and authorised interviews

Joseph Stalin photo

“The Jews are not a nation!”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

As quoted in Stalin : A Biography (2004) by Robert Service, p. 156
Contemporary witnesses

Joseph Stalin photo

“For some people, four walls are three too many.”

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

This seems to have originated with the Spanish military leader Juan Domingo de Monteverde, who, in Francisco de Miranda, a Transatlantic Life in the Age of Revolution (2003) by Karen Racine, p. 239, is quoted as having said: "four walls are three too many for a prison — you only need one for an execution."
Misattributed