“Communism is the doctrine of the conditions of the liberation of the proletariat.”

&quot;Lessons of the Commune&quot; http://www.marx.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/mar/23.htm, Collected Works, Vol. 13. <br class="br">Collected Works

“Lessons of the Commune”, in Zagranichnaya Gazeta, No. 2 (23 March 1908) http://www.marx.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/mar/23.htm, as translated by Bernard Isaacs, Collected Works, Vol. 13, p. 478. <br class="br">1900s <br class="br">Variant: The proletariat should not ignore peaceful methods of struggle — they serve its ordinary, day-to-day interests, they are necessary in periods of preparation for revolution — but it must never forget that in certain conditions the class struggle assumes the form of armed conflict and civil war; there are times when the interests of the proletariat call for ruthless extermination of its enemies in open armed clashes. This was first demonstrated by the French proletariat in the Commune and brilliantly confirmed by the Russian proletariat in the December uprising.

Source: The Passing of an Illusion, The Idea of Communism in the Twentieth Century (1999), p. 175

Source: Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It (1944), Ch. 3

Its sole business would be to see that no man should stray. It would become purely a political sect, strictly, sternly, severely, painfully orthodox, and painfully select. If that was to be its rôle it would dwindle from generation to generation and decade to decade, until it would only have representation amongst the more tenacious races, to one of which he belonged.
Speech in Oxford Town Hall (6 August 1924), quoted in The Times (7 August 1924), p. 14
Leader of the National Liberal Party

Source: "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920), CH. 2 An Essential Condition of the Bolsheviks' Success

Source: The Passing of an Illusion, The Idea of Communism in the Twentieth Century (1999), p.191

Chap. 5. Success Ethics
The Tyranny of Merits (2020)