QuoteProject
If you cannot convince a Fascist, acquaint his head with the pavement.
Leon Trotsky
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

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.

Themes

ConvinceFascistPavementForceIdeology

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate about extremism, this quote can be referenced to underline the limits of rational argumentation.

More from Leon Trotsky

Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.
Leon TrotskyRead
Abusive language and swearing are a legacy of slavery, humiliation, and disrespect for human dignity, one’s own and that of other people.
Leon TrotskyRead
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 The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.
Leon TrotskyRead
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.
Leon TrotskyRead
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.
Leon TrotskyRead
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 – let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!
Leon TrotskyRead

Similar quotes

The onward march of the human race requires that the heights around it constantly blaze with noble lessons of courage. Deeds of daring dazzle history and form one of man's guiding lights.
Victor HugoRead
The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.
W. E. B. Du BoisRead
We have to keep in mind at all times that we are not fighting for integration, nor are we fighting for separation. We are fighting for recognition as free humans in this society.
Malcolm XRead
They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit.
Bhagat SinghRead
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless, _x000D_ Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen, _x000D_ I might not be the same, but that's not important. _x000D_ No freedom 'til we're equal, damn right I support it.
MacklemoreRead
The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.
Cesar ChavezRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.