Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
In principle as a philosophy, a model of organising society, Communism has to be respected. As regards the use of certain methods to advance social justice and greater regulation by the state, there are certain methods that are useful. What we need is a new society, a new civilization and convergence of all that is best in both [Communism and Capitalism]
Interpretation
The quote discusses the importance of combining the best elements of both Communism and Capitalism to create a new society.
Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledges the theoretical merits of Communism as an organizational philosophy and emphasizes the necessity of a balanced approach that incorporates effective methods from both Communism and Capitalism. He advocates for a new civilization that transcends existing ideologies, promoting social justice and stronger state regulation without dismissing the potential benefits each system provides.
In practice
This quote can inspire discussions at political debates about the future of economic systems.
Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.
Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.
The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.
To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.
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.
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.
Nakedness has no color: this can come as news only to those who have never covered, or been covered by, another naked human being.
The jealous man lives in hell. Drop comparing and jealousy disappears, meanness disappears, phoniness disappears. But you can drop it only if you start growing your inner treasures; there is no other way.
There is no ship now that can bear me hence
Respect for the dignity of others includes treating them as rational creatures capable of being persuadad by rational argument, even in the face of frequent evidence to the contrary.
No matter how much fame you have, it's not something that belongs to you. If I'm famous, that doesn't belong to me-that belongs to you. If you can't remember who I am, I'm no longer famous.
Childlessness doesn't make people selfish; selfishness makes people selfish.
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