It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
Vladimir LeninRead
The state does not function as we desired. A man is at the wheel and seems to lead it, but the car does not drive in the desired direction. It moves as another force wishes.
Interpretation
This quote critiques the disconnection between leadership intentions and the actual direction of governance.
Lenin reflects on the complexities of political leadership, suggesting that even when a leader appears to be in control, external forces and societal structures can significantly alter the direction of governance. The metaphor of a car being driven not by its intended driver underscores how personal ambitions may be overridden by systemic forces, illustrating the struggle between individual agency and larger societal dynamics.
In practice
This quote can be used in a political discussion about the effectiveness of current leaders.
It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
For the complete extinction of the state, complete Communism is necessary.
Medicine is the keystone of the arch of socialism.
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.
We are not utopians, we do not “dream” 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".
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
It is impossible that there should be inhabitants on the opposite side of the Earth, since no such race is recorded by Scripture among the descendants of Adam.
For if I try to seize this self of which I feel sure, if I try to define and to summarize it, it is nothing but water slipping through my fingers.
While Newton seemed to draw off the veil from some of the mysteries of nature, he showed at the same time the imperfections of the mechanical philosophy; and thereby restored her ultimate secrets to that obscurity, in which they ever did and ever will remain.
Much that was called religion has carried an unconscious attitude of hostility toward life. True religion must teach that life is filled with joys pleasing to the eye of God, that knowledge without action is empty. All men must see that the teaching of religion by rules and rote is largely a hoax. The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you’ve always known.
The doors of Hell, insofar as they have locks, have locks on the inside.
the better angels of our nature
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