Sergey Nechayev Quotes

Sergey Gennadiyevich Nechayev was a Russian revolutionary associated with the Nihilist movement and known for his single-minded pursuit of revolution by any means necessary, including terrorism. He was the author of the radical Catechism of a Revolutionary.

He fled Russia in 1869 after having been involved in the murder of a former comrade. Complicated relationships with fellow revolutionaries caused him to be expelled from the First International. Arrested in Switzerland in 1872, he was sent back to Russia, received a 20-year sentence and died in prison.

The character Pyotr Verkhovensky in Dostoyevsky's anti-nihilistic novel, Demons, is based on Nechayev.

✵ 2. October 1847 – 3. December 1882
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Famous Sergey Nechayev Quotes

“Our task is terrible, total, universal, and merciless destruction.”

Catechism of a Revolutionary (1869)

“He should not hesitate to destroy any position, any place, or any man in this world.”

Catechism of a Revolutionary (1869)
Context: The revolutionary enters the world of the State, of the privileged classes, of the so-called civilization, and he lives in this world only for the purpose of bringing about its speedy and total destruction. He is not a revolutionary if he has any sympathy for this world. He should not hesitate to destroy any position, any place, or any man in this world. He must hate everyone and everything in it with an equal hatred. All the worse for him if he has any relations with parents, friends, or lovers; he is no longer a revolutionary if he is swayed by these relationships.

“Immoral and criminal is everything that stands in its way.”

Catechism of a Revolutionary (1869)
Context: The revolutionary despises public opinion. He despises and hates the existing social morality in all its manifestations. For him, morality is everything which contributes to the triumph of the revolution. Immoral and criminal is everything that stands in its way.

Sergey Nechayev Quotes

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