The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do.
Joseph StalinRead
If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a 'peace conference,' you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and airplanes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the irony of diplomatic talks often being a cover for military preparations.
Stalin's quote suggests that when a government is overtly committed to peaceful negotiations, it may actually be preparing for war. The statement reflects a cynical view of political maneuvers, indicating that behind the facade of diplomacy often lies a readiness for conflict, revealing deeper truths about power dynamics in international relations.
Themes
DiplomacyWarPeacePoliticsIrony
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion on the nature of international relations at a political science seminar.
More from Joseph Stalin
All quotes βI consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this - who will count the votes, and how.
Joseph StalinRead
The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.
Joseph StalinRead
Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.
Joseph StalinRead
You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves.
Joseph StalinRead
It takes a brave man to be a coward in the Red Army.
Joseph StalinRead
Similar quotes
Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said "In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses?' They will ask me: 'Why were you not Zusya?
Martin BuberRead
There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.
Dalai LamaRead
Little islands are all large prisons: one cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow.
Richard BurtonRead
The exhilaration was hard to explain. It was a lonely feeling β a somehow melancholy feeling. He was outside; he passed on the wings of the wind, and none of the people beyond the brightly lighted squares of their windows saw him. They were inside, inside where there was light and warmth. They didn't know he had passed them; only he knew. It was a secret thing.
Stephen KingRead
The two greatest things that all men aim at in any free government are liberty and permanency. We have had liberty enough - too much perhaps in some respects - but at all events, liberty to our hearts content.
Thomas DRead
we must not blame our poor symbols if they take forms that seem trivial to us, or absurd, ... however paltry they may be; the nature of our life alone has determined their forms.
Angela CarterRead