It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
Vladimir LeninRead
To picture world history as advancing smoothly and steadily without sometimes taking gigantic strides backward is undialectical, unscientific and theoretically wrong.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Historical progress is not linear and often involves setbacks.
Vladimir Lenin's quote highlights that understanding history requires recognizing its complexities, including the counterproductive moments alongside progress. It challenges the notion of a straightforward narrative of advancement and emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and scientific reasoning in analyzing historical events.
Themes
HistoryProgressSetbacksAnalysisDialectics
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class discussing the complexities of social movements.
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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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