Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.
Leon TrotskyRead
If you cannot convince a Fascist, acquaint his head with the pavement.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that sometimes force may be necessary when rational persuasion fails in the face of extreme ideology.
This quote by Leon Trotsky speaks to the idea that there are instances when attempts at convincing individuals with extremist beliefs may be futile. In such situations, he implies that more drastic measures might be required to address oppressive ideologies, emphasizing the importance of standing against authoritarianism and defending one's principles.
In practice
In a debate about extremism, this quote can be referenced to underline the limits of rational argumentation.
Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.
Abusive language and swearing are a legacy of slavery, humiliation, and disrespect for human dignity, oneβs own and that of other people.
In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.
Man will become immeasurably stronger, wiser, and subtler; his body will become more harmonious, his movements more rhythmic, his voice more musical. The forms of life will become dynamically dramatic. The average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. And above these heights, new peaks will rise.
The masses go into a revolution not with a prepared plan of social reconstruction, but with a sharp feeling that they cannot endure the old regime. Only the guiding layers of a class have a political program, and even this still requires the test of events and the approval of the masses.
History has different yardsticks for the cruelty of the Northerners and the cruelty of the Southerners in the Civil War. A slave-owner who through cunning and violence shackles a slave in chains, and a slave who through cunning or violence breaks the chains β let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!
The way to defeat fear: decide on a course of conduct and follow it. Keep so busy and work so hard that you forget about being afraid.
Listen. Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember.
For every Harvey Weinstein, there's three or four thousand other pastors, coaches, teachers, uncles, cousins, and stepfathers who are committing the same crimes. We have to keep that in focus and we have to keep talking about it.
You need a degree of foolishness to cause disruptive change in healthcare. Dare to dream.
I am dying not just to attempt to end the barbarity of H-blocks or to gain the rightful recognition of political prisoners, but primarily because what is lost here is lost for the Republic.
There are more people living in Lower Manhattan now than before the terrorist attacks. That's faith for you. There's such a strong spirit here.
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