It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
Vladimir LeninRead
While the State exists there can be no freedom; when there is freedom there will be no State.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lenin suggests that the existence of a state inherently limits individual freedom, while true freedom would lead to the dissolution of state power.
This quote by Lenin encapsulates a fundamental idea in political philosophy about the relationship between the state and individual freedom. He argues that a governing body or state inherently imposes restrictions and control over individuals, which contradicts the essence of freedom. In a society where individuals are truly free, the need for a state ceases to exist, as people's actions and choices would not require oversight or enforcement by an external authority.
Themes
FreedomStatePoliticsPhilosophyAuthority
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about political ideologies at a university lecture on Marxism.
More from Vladimir Lenin
All quotes βFor the complete extinction of the state, complete Communism is necessary.
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A democracy is a state which recognizes the subjection of the minority to the majority, that is, an organization for the systematic use of violence by one class against the other, by one part of the population against another.
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We are not utopians, we do not βdreamβ of dispensing at once with all administration, with all subordination. These anarchist dreams, based upon incomprehension of the tasks of the proletarian dictatorship, are totally alien to Marxism, and, as a matter of fact, serve only to postpone the socialist revolution until people are different. No, we want the socialist revolution with people as they are now, with people who cannot dispense with subordination, control, and "foremen and accountants".
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The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
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What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are.
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Any time I claimed to be white, that would be unacceptable. It just doesn't make sense in people's minds. If I'm white, how can I walk through a department store and still have people scared that I'm going to rob them? Which, that can still happen.
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