Recommended quotes
page 67

“Now you have the privilege of living in another era and you must be worthy of it.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Birthday Letter to his Daughter (1966)
Context: You should fight to be among the best in school. The very best in every sense and you already know what that means; study and revolutionary attitude. In other words: good conduct, seriousness, love for the revolution, comradeship. I was not that way at your age but I lived in a different society, where man was an enemy of man. Now you have the privilege of living in another era and you must be worthy of it.

“Many will call me an adventurer, and that I am… only one of a different sort: one who risks his skin to prove his truths.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Last Letter to his Parents (1965)

“Of course there are dangers in the present situation, and not only that of dogmatism, not only that of weakening the ties with the masses midway in the great task. There is also the danger of weaknesses. If a man thinks that dedicating his entire life to the revolution means, that in return he should not have such worries as that his son lacks certain things, or that his children's shoes are worn out, or that his family lacks some necessity, then he is entering into rationalisations which open his mind to infection by the seeds of future corruption.
In our case we have maintained that our children should have or should go without those things that the children of the average man have or go without, and that our families should understand this and strive to uphold this standard. The revolution is made through man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit day by day.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Man and Socialism in Cuba (1965)

“I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Variant: I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting.

“Our task is to prevent the present generation, torn asunder by its conflicts, from becoming perverted and from perverting new generations.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Man and Socialism in Cuba (1965)
Context: Our task is to prevent the present generation, torn asunder by its conflicts, from becoming perverted and from perverting new generations. We must not bring into being either docile servants of official thought or scholarship students who live at the expense of the state — practising "freedom." Already there are revolutionaries coming who will sing the song of the new man in the true voice of the people. This is a process, which takes time.

“We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

As quoted in Wise Guys : Brilliant Thoughts and Big Talk from Real Men (2005) by Allan Zullo, p. 36

“The first duty of a revolutionary is to be educated.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

“Be realistic, demand the impossible!”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

“Every day People straighten up the hair, why not the heart?”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

“I would rather die standing up to live life on my knees.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary