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It is better to discuss things, to argue and engage in polemics than make perfidious plans of mutual destruction.
Mikhail Gorbachev
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Engaging in open discussion is preferable to plotting harmful actions against each other.

This quote emphasizes the importance of dialogue and debate over scheming harmful intentions. Mikhail Gorbachev advocates for constructive communication as a means to resolve conflicts rather than resorting to destructive plots that could lead to mutual harm. This perspective highlights the belief that understanding different viewpoints can prevent catastrophic outcomes.

Themes

DiscussionPolemicsDialogueDestructionCommunicationConflict

In practice

Example use cases

During a peace conference, one might quote this to encourage open dialogue.

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Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.
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The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.
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To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.
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New approaches are needed, new orientations in both thought and action. We must make the transition to a new civilization...We are talking of a transition toward a new civilization. No one knows what it will be like. What is important is to orient in that direction... I am convinced that a new civilization will inevitably take on certain features that are characteristic of, or inherent in, the socialist ideal.
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According to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible.... The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist construction both in theory and in practice. We want more socialism and, therefore, more democracy.
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