Che Guevara Quotes & Sayings

Let's be realistic. Let's do the impossible! — Che Guevara

The fundamental principle is that no battle, combat, or skirmish is to be fought unless it will be won. — Che Guevara

When forces of oppression come to maintain themselves in power against established law, peace is considered already broken. — Che Guevara

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day. — Che Guevara

The merit of Marx is that he suddenly produces a qualitative change in the history of social thought. He interprets history, understands its dynamic, predicts the future, but in addition to predicting it (which would satisfy his scientific obligation), he expresses a revolutionary concept: the world must not only be interpreted, it must be transformed. Man ceases to be the slave and tool of his environment and converts himself into the architect of his own destiny. — Che Guevara

In fact, if Christ himself stood in my way, I, like Nietzsche, would not hesitate to squish him like a worm. — Che Guevara

Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms. — Che Guevara

One must endure without losing tenderness. — Che Guevara

How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew? — Che Guevara

The negro is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations. — Che Guevara

Live your life not celebrating victories, but overcoming defeats. — Che Guevara

Its tall chimneys throw up black smoke, impregnating everything with soot, and the miners' faces as they traveled the streets were also imbued with that ancient melancholy of smoke, unifying everything with its grayish monotones, a perfect coupling with the gray mountain days. — Che Guevara

It is a revolution that came to power with its own army and on the ruins of the army of oppression. — Che Guevara

Chess is an effective means to educate and train the human intellect. — Che Guevara

We travel just to travel. — Che Guevara

While envisaging the destruction of imperialism, it is necessary to identify its head, which is no other than the United States of America. — Che Guevara

I had a project for my life which involved 10 years of wandering, then some years of medical studies and, if any time was left, the great adventure of physics. — Che Guevara

Everyday you have to fight so that love for humanity can be transformed into concrete deeds, into acts that set an example, that mobilize. — Che Guevara

Our youth must always be free, discussing and exchanging ideas concerned with what is happening throughout the entire world. — Che Guevara

Justice remains the tool of a few powerful interests; legal interpretations will continue to be made to suit the convenience of the oppressor powers. — Che Guevara

Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature. — Che Guevara

Democracy is not compatible with financial oligarchy. — Che Guevara

Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians. — Che Guevara

Once again I feel beneath my heels the ribs of Rocinante. Once more, I'm on the road with my shield on my arm. — Che Guevara

Each spilt drop of blood, in any country under whose flag one has not been born, is an experience passed on to those who survive, to be added later to the liberation struggle of his own country. And each nation liberated is a phase won in the battle for the liberation of one's own country. — Che Guevara

Peaceful coexistence cannot be limited to the powerful countries if we want to ensure world peace. — Che Guevara

The ultimate and most important revolutionary aspiration: to see human beings liberated from their alienation — Che Guevara

Where a government has come into power through some form of popular vote, fraudulent or not, and maintains at least an appearance of constitutional legality, the guerrilla outbreak cannot be promoted, since the possibilities of peaceful struggle have not yet been exhausted. — Che Guevara

Because it is the very nature of Imperialism to turn humans into beasts. — Che Guevara

The spectacular landscape circling the fortress supplies an essential backdrop, inspiring dreamers to wander its ruins for the sake of it; North American tourists, bound down by their practical world view, are able to place those members of the disintegrating tribes they may have seen in their travels among these once-living walls, unaware of the moral distance separating them, since only the semi-indigenous spirit of the South American can grasp the subtle differences. — Che Guevara

One does not necessarily have to wait for a revolutionary situation: it can be created. — Che Guevara

It is an illusion to think that the matter cannot be resolved through words. — Che Guevara

I am one of those people who believes that the solution to the world's problems is to be found behind the Iron Curtain. — Che Guevara

The ***** is indolent and lazy, and spends his money on frivolities, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent. — Che Guevara

A smoke in times of rest is a great companion to the solitary soldier. — Che Guevara

A political event was that I met Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary. He is a young, intelligent guy, very sure of himself and extraordinarily audacious; I think we hit it off well. — Che Guevara

How easy it is to govern when one follows a system of consulting the will of the people and one holds as the only norm all the actions which contribute to the well being of the people. — Che Guevara

We have no right to believe that freedom can be won without struggle. — Che Guevara

Better to die standing, than to live on your knees. — Che Guevara

Imperialism has been defeated in many partial battles. But it remains a considerable force in the world, and we cannot expect its final defeat save through effort and sacrifice on the part of all of us. — Che Guevara

In a revolution one wins or dies, if it is a real one — Che Guevara

My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood ... Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any surrendered enemy that falls in my hands! With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl! — Che Guevara

Blind hate against the enemy creates a forceful impulse that cracks the boundaries of natural human limitations, transforming the soldier in an effective, selective and cold killing machine. A people without hate cannot triumph against the adversary. — Che Guevara

If you have the capacity to tremble with indignation every time that an injustice is committed in the world, then we are comrades. — Che Guevara

Revolution cleanses men, improving them as the experimental farmer corrects the defects of his plants. — Che Guevara

Arms cannot be regarded as merchandise in our world. They should be delivered to the peoples asking for them for use against the common enemy without any charge at all, and in quantities determined by the need and their availability. — Che Guevara

Each time a country is freed, we say, it is a defeat for the world imperialist system, but we must agree that real liberation or breaking away from the imperialist system is not achieved by the mere act of proclaiming independence or winning an armed victory in a revolution. Freedom is achieved when imperialist economic domination over a people is brought to an end. — Che Guevara

As long as imperialism exists it will, by definition, exert its domination over other countries. Today that domination is called neocolonialism. — Che Guevara

It's not my fault if reality is Marxist — Che Guevara

The monopoly capitalists - even while employing purely empirical methods - weave around art a complicated web which converts it into a willing tool. The superstructure of society ordains the type of art in which the artist has to be educated. Rebels are subdued by its machinery and only rare talents may create their own work. The rest become shameless hacks or are crushed. — Che Guevara

I would probably have more in common with a whale than with a bourgeois married couple employed at worthy institutions that I would wipe from the face of the earth if it was given to me to do so. — Che Guevara

Hatred as an element of the struggle; a relentless hatred of the enemy, impelling us over and beyond the natural limitations that man is heir to and transforming him into an effective, violent, selective and cold killing machine. Our soldiers must be thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy. — Che Guevara

Remember that the revolution is what is important, and each one of us, alone, is worth nothing. — Che Guevara

There are no borders in this fight to the death; we cannot be indifferent to what is happening in any part of the world. — Che Guevara

Americans are given the sole option of electing their jailer for four years and sometimes do him the honour of re-electing him. — Che Guevara

The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing, have seen their territory invaded by a new kind of slave: the Portuguese. — Che Guevara

The guerrilla band is not to be considered inferior to the army against which it fights simply because it is inferior in fire power. — Che Guevara

We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it, to his home, to his centers of entertainment: a total war. It is necessary to prevent him from having a moment of peace, a quiet moment outside his barracks or even inside; we must attack him wherever he may be, make him feel like a cornered beast wherever he may move. Then his moral fiber shall begin to decline, but we shall notice how the signs of decadence begin to disappear. — Che Guevara

Above all, try always to be able to feel deeply any injustice committed against any person in any part of the world. It is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary. — Che Guevara

In a revolution, one triumphs or dies. — Che Guevara

The myth of the self-made man, has to be profoundly hypocritical: it is the self-serving demonstration that a lie is the truth — Che Guevara

To execute a man we don't need proof of his guilt. We only need proof that it's necessary to execute him. It's that simple. — Che Guevara

A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate. We must create the pedagogy of the The Wall! — Che Guevara

The word that most perfectly describes the city of Cuzco is evocative. Intangible dust of another era settles on its streets, rising like the disturbed sediment of a muddy lake when you touch its bottom. — Che Guevara

The final hour of colonialism has struck, and millions of inhabitants of Africa, Asia and Latin America rise to meet a new life and demand their unrestricted right to self-determination. — Che Guevara

I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel ... — Che Guevara

It is not necessary to wait until all conditions for making revolution exist; the insurrection can create them. — Che Guevara

It is not a matter of wishing success to the victim of aggression, but of sharing his fate; one must accompany him to his death or to victory — Che Guevara

I have sworn before a picture of the old and mourned comrade Stalin that I won't rest until I see these capitalist octopuses annihilated. — Che Guevara

I am not Christ or a philanthropist, old lady, I am all the contrary of a Christ ... — Che Guevara

We are overcome by anguish at this illogical moment of humanity. — Che Guevara

Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel. — Che Guevara

We must bear in mind that imperialism is a world system, the last stage of capitalism-and it must be defeated in a world confrontation. The strategic end of this struggle should be the destruction of imperialism. Our share, the responsibility of the exploited and underdeveloped of the world, is to eliminate the foundations of imperialism: our oppressed nations, from where they extract capital, raw materials, technicians, and cheap labor, and to which they export new capital-instruments of domination-arms and all kinds of articles, thus submerging us in an absolute dependence. — Che Guevara

How can it be "mutually beneficial" to sell at world market prices the raw materials that cost the underdeveloped countries immeasurable sweat and suffering. — Che Guevara

Mexicans are a band of illiterate Indians. — Che Guevara

The U.S. is the great enemy of mankind! Against those hyenas there is no option but extermination! If the nuclear missiles had remained (in Cuba) we would have fired them against the heart of the U.S. including New York City! — Che Guevara

I have a wish. It as a fear as well - that in my end will be my beginning. — Che Guevara

I have come to communism because of daddy Stalin and nobody must come and tell me that I mustn't read Stalin. I read him when it was very bad to read him. That was another time. And because I'm not very bright, and a hard-headed person, I keep on reading him. Especially in this new period, now that it is worse to read him. Then, as well as now, I still find a Seri of things that are very good. — Che Guevara

Real revolutionaries adorn themselves on the inside, not on the surface. — Che Guevara

You know, comrade Pachman, I don't enjoy being a Minister, I would rather play chess like you, or make a revolution in Venezuela. — Che Guevara

Words that do not match deeds are not important. — Che Guevara

The socialist countries have the moral duty of liquidating their tacit complicity with the exploiting countries of the West. — Che Guevara

We must not return to the practice of hiding our defects so they may not be seen. That would be neither honest nor revolutionary. — Che Guevara

The question is one of fighting the causes and not just being satisfied with getting rid of the effects. — Che Guevara

Passion is needed for any great work, and for the revolution, passion and audacity are required in big doses. — Che Guevara

The amount of poverty and suffering required for the emergence of a Rockefeller, and the amount of depravity that the accumulation of a fortune of such magnitude entails, are left out of the picture, and it is not always possible to make the people in general see this. — Che Guevara

War is always a struggle in which each contender tries to annihilate the other. Besides using force, they will have recourse to all possible tricks and stratagems to achieve the goal. — Che Guevara

I knew that the moment the great governing spirit strikes the blow to divide all humanity into just two opposing factions, I would be on the side of the common people — Che Guevara

If it is an element of liberation for Latin America, I believe that it should have demonstrated that. Until now, I have not been aware of any such demonstration. The IMF performs an entirely different function: precisely that of ensuring that capital based outside of Latin America controls all of Latin America. — Che Guevara

The only passion that guides me is for the truth ... I look at everything from this point of view. — Che Guevara

I could become very rich in Guatemala but by the low method of ratifying my title, opening a clinic, and specialising in allergies. To do that would be the most horrible betrayal of the two 'I's' struggling inside me: the socialist and the traveller. — Che Guevara

If any person has a good word for the previous government that is good enough for me to have him shot. — Che Guevara

Direct aggression against Cuba would mean nuclear war. The Americans speak about such aggression as if they did not know or did not want to accept this fact. I have no doubt they would lose such a war. — Che Guevara

I am not interested in dry economic socialism. We are fighting against misery, but we are also fighting against alienation. One of the fundamental objectives of Marxism is to remove interest, the factor of individual interest, and gain, from people's psychological motivations. Marx was preoccupied both with economic factors and with their repercussions on the spirit. If communism isn't interested in this too, it may be a method of distributing goods, but it will never be a revolutionary way of life. — Che Guevara

The interests of the IMF represent the big international interests that today seem to be established and concentrated in Wall Street. — Che Guevara

The negro has maintained his racial purity by his well known habit of
avoiding baths — Che Guevara

A new era will dawn in Africa, when the impoverished masses of a nation rise up to rescue their right to a decent life from the hands of the ruling oligarchies. — Che Guevara

The desire to sacrifice an entire lifetime to the noblest of ideals serves no purpose if one works alone. — Che Guevara

The state sometimes makes mistakes. When one of these mistakes occurs, a decline in collective enthusiasm is reflected by a resulting quantitative decrease of the contribution of each individual, each of the elements forming the whole of the masses. Work is so paralysed that insignificant quantities are produced. It is time to make a correction. — Che Guevara

The university should color itself black and color itself mulatto - not just as regards students but also professors Today the people stand at the door of the university, and it is the university that must be flexible. It must color itself black, mulatto, worker, peasant, or else be left without doors. And then the people will tear it apart and paint it with the colors they see fit. — Che Guevara