Joseph Stalin Quotes & Sayings

If Stalin was such a bad guy, why do all these people have to resort to attributing to him almost entirely quotes he didn't make, or manipulate his actual quotes just enough to make them seem evil? — Joseph Stalin

Bukharin's a swine and surely worse than a swine because he thinks it below his dignity to write a couple of lines. — Joseph Stalin

Artillery is the god of war. — Joseph Stalin

As we know, the goal of every struggle is victory. But if the proletariat is to achieve victory, all the workers, irrespective of nationality , must be united. Clearly, the demolition of national barriers and close unity between the Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Polish, Jewish and other proletarians is a necessary condition for the victory of the proletariat of all Russia. — Joseph Stalin

A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron. — Joseph Stalin

Gratitude is an illness suffered by dogs. — Joseph Stalin

History shows that there are no invincible armies. — Joseph Stalin

Is it possible, then, to doubt that we can and must gain victory over the German invaders? The enemy is not as strong as some terror-stricken pseudo-intellectuals picture him. The devil is not as terrible as he is painted. — Joseph Stalin

The people will always attempt to find the positive aspects of all circumstances, which, in themselves, are not susceptible to danger. — Joseph Stalin

Marxists have more than once pointed out that the capitalist world economic system contains in itself the seeds of a general crisis and of warlike clashes. — Joseph Stalin

No revolution can be made with silk gloves. — Joseph Stalin

It is not the voters who count, but those who count the votes. — Joseph Stalin

By May, 1st, 1937, there should not be one single church left within the borders of Soviet Russia, and the idea of God will have been banished from the Soviet Union as a remnant of the Middle Ages, which has been used for the purpose of oppressing the working classes. — Joseph Stalin

Quanity has it's own quality. — Joseph Stalin

Die, but do not retreat. — Joseph Stalin

Mr. Churchill, Mr. Prime Minister, how many divisions did you say that the pope had? — Joseph Stalin

If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves. — Joseph Stalin

The only real power comes out of a long rifle. — Joseph Stalin

Marxism is not only the theory of socialism, it is an integral world outlook, a philosophical system, from which Marx's proletarian socialism logically follows. This philosophical system is called dialectical materialism. — Joseph Stalin

A man's eyes should be torn out if he can only see the past — Joseph Stalin

I know that after my death a pile of rubbish will be heaped on my grave, but the wind of History will sooner or later sweep it away without mercy. — Joseph Stalin

Revolution, the substitution of one social system for another, has always been a struggle, a painful and a cruel struggle, a life and death struggle. — Joseph Stalin

We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us. — Joseph Stalin

There is not, nor should there be, an irreconcilable contrast between the individual and the collective, between the interests of an individual person and the interests of the collective. — Joseph Stalin

The writer is the engineer of the human soul. — Joseph Stalin

Anti-Semitism, as an extreme form of racial chauvinism, is the most dangerous vestige of cannibalism. — Joseph Stalin

It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes. — Joseph Stalin

Undoubtedly, our path is not of the easiest; but, just as undoubtedly, we are not to be frightened by difficulties. Paraphrasing from the well-known words of Luther, Russia might say: 'Here I stand on the frontier between the old, capitalist world and the new, socialist world. Here on this frontier I unite the efforts of the proletarians of the West and of the peasantry of the East in order to shatter the old world. May the god of history be my aid! — Joseph Stalin

How do you expect the Germans to revolt when they don't even dare walk on the grass? — Joseph Stalin

Of all the treasures a state can possess, the human lives of its citizens are for us the most precious. — Joseph Stalin

He who votes does not have power. He who counts the votes has power. — Joseph Stalin

Hitlers come and go, but Germany and the German people remain. — Joseph Stalin

Advance towards socialism cannot but cause the exploiting elements to resist the advance, and the resistance of the exploiters cannot but lead to the inevitable sharpening of the class struggle. — Joseph Stalin

We do not want a single foot of foreign territory; but of our territory we shall not surrender a single inch to anyone. — Joseph Stalin

Our Red Army now needs IL-2 aircraft like the air it breathes, like the bread it eats. — Joseph Stalin

Ours is a just cause; victory will be ours! — Joseph Stalin

Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party. — Joseph Stalin

The rich experience of history teaches that up to now not a single class has voluntarily made way for another class. — Joseph Stalin

If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a 'peace conference', you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and airplanes. — Joseph Stalin

When you chop wood, splinters fly — Joseph Stalin

What would happen if capital succeeded in smashing the Republic of Soviets? There would set in an era of the blackest reaction in all the capitalist and colonial countries, the working class and the oppressed peoples would be seized by the throat, the positions of international communism would be lost. — Joseph Stalin

It takes a brave man to be a coward in the Red Army. — Joseph Stalin

Divide the world into regional groups as a transitional stage to world government. Populations will more readily abandon their national loyalty to a vague regional loyalty than they will for a world authority. Later the regions can be brought together all the way into a single world dictatorship. — Joseph Stalin

Quantity has a quality all its own. — Joseph Stalin

In the U.S.S.R. anti-semitism is punishable with the utmost severity of the law as a phenomenon deeply hostile to the Soviet system. Under U.S.S.R. law active anti-semites are liable to the death penalty. — Joseph Stalin

Farmers present by themselves the basic force of the national movement. Without farmers there can be no strong national movement. This is what we mean when we say that the nationalist question, is actually, the farmers' question. — Joseph Stalin

The art of leadership is a serious matter. One must not lag behind a movement, because to do so is to become isolated from the masses. But one must not rush ahead, for to rush ahead is to lose contact with the masses. He who wished to lead a movement must conduct a fight on two fronts
against those who lag behind and those who rush ahead. — Joseph Stalin

We think that a powerful and vigorous movement is impossible without differences "true conformity" is possible only in the cemetery. — Joseph Stalin

- Oh no, The Collective Farm policy was a terrible struggle ... Ten million (he said holding up his hands). It was fearful. Four years it lasted. It was absolutely necessary. — Joseph Stalin

To slacken the tempo ... would mean falling behind. And those who fall behind get beaten ... — Joseph Stalin

[spurious quotation]. — Joseph Stalin

The Jews are not a nation! — Joseph Stalin

The production of souls is more important than the production of tanks ... And therefore I raise my glass to you, writers, the engineers of the human soul. — Joseph Stalin

Having consolidated its power, and taking the lead of the peasantry, the proletariat of the victorious country can and must build a socialist society. — Joseph Stalin

Anti-Semitism is dangerous for the toilers, for it is a false track which diverts them from the proper road and leads them into the jungle. Hence, Communists, as consistent internationalists, cannot but be irreconcilable and bitter enemies of anti-Semitism. In the U.S.S.R., anti-Semitism is strictly prosecuted as a phenomenon hostile to the Soviet system. According to the laws of the U.S.S.R. active anti-Semites are punished with death. — Joseph Stalin

World dictatorship can be established only when the victory of socialism has been achieved in certain countries or groups of countries ... [and] when these federation of republics have finally grown into a world union of Soviet Socialist Republics uniting the whole of mankind under the hegemony of the international proletariat organized as a state. — Joseph Stalin

The Pope! How many divisions has he got? — Joseph Stalin

The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do. — Joseph Stalin

[The Albanians] seem to be rather backward and primitive people ... they can be as faithful as a dog; that is one of the traits of the primitive. Our Chuvash were the same. The Russian tsars always used them for their bodyguards. — Joseph Stalin

Political power does not rest with those who cast votes; political power rests with those who count votes. — Joseph Stalin

There are no fortresses that Bolsheviks cannot storm. — Joseph Stalin

The press must grow day in and day out - it is our Party's sharpest and most powerful weapon. — Joseph Stalin

The United States should get rid of its militias. — Joseph Stalin

[redacted; spurious]. — Joseph Stalin

This war is not as in the past; whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system. Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach. It cannot be otherwise.
If now there is not a communist government in Paris, this is only because Russia has no an army which can reach Paris in 1945. — Joseph Stalin

Ah, these diplomats! What chatterboxes! There's only one way to shut them up - cut them down with machine guns. Bulganin, go and get me one! — Joseph Stalin

One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic. — Joseph Stalin

Writers are the engineers of human souls. — Joseph Stalin

Nobody respects a country with a poor army, but everybody respects a country with a good army. I raise my toast to the Finnish army — Joseph Stalin

When one person dies, it's a tragedy, but when a million people die, it's a statistic. — Joseph Stalin

We believe that the Anarchists are real enemies of Marxism. — Joseph Stalin

Everybody has a right to be stupid, but some people abuse the privilege. — Joseph Stalin

We secured peace for our country for one and a half years, as well as an opportunity of preparing our forces for defense if fascist Germany risked attacking our country in defiance of the pact. This was a definite gain to our country and a loss for fascist Germany. — Joseph Stalin

Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union. — Joseph Stalin

Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach. — Joseph Stalin

[After Communism succeeds] ... then, there will come a peace across the earth. — Joseph Stalin

The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic. — Joseph Stalin

Great Britain provided time; the United States provided money and Soviet Russia provided blood. — Joseph Stalin

I trust no one, not even myself. — Joseph Stalin

The Red Army and Navy and the whole Soviet people must fight for every inch of Soviet soil, fight to the last drop of blood for our towns and villages ... onward, to victory! — Joseph Stalin

The death of one man is tragic, but the death of thousands is statistic — Joseph Stalin

Mankind is divided into rich and poor, into property owners and exploited; and to abstract oneself from this fundamental division; and from the antagonism between poor and rich means abstracting oneself from fundamental facts. — Joseph Stalin

In war I would deal with the Devil and his grandmother — Joseph Stalin

The leaders come and go, but the people remain. Only the people are immortal. — Joseph Stalin

Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs. — Joseph Stalin

This war is not an ordinary war. It is the war of the entire Russian people. Not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our heads, but to aid all people groaning under the yoke of Fascism — Joseph Stalin

You do not lament the loss of hair of one who has been beheaded. — Joseph Stalin

Each position, each metre of the Soviet territory must be stubbornly defended, to the last drop of blood. We must cling to every inch of Soviet soil and defend it to the end! — Joseph Stalin

There is no doubt that the adsence of a second front in Europe considerably relieves the position of the German army. — Joseph Stalin

In speaking of the capitalists who strive only for profit, only to get rich, I do not want to say that these are the most worthless people capable of doing nothing else. Many of them undoubtedly possess great organising talent, which I would not dream of denying. We Soviet people learn a lot from the capitalists. But if you mean people who are prepared to reconstruct the world, of course you will not be able to find them in the ranks of those who faithfully serve the cause of profit..The capitalist is riveted in profit and nothing can tear him away from it. — Joseph Stalin

The way to handle people is to treat them like chickens. Take away everything they have by plucking all their feathers and then throw them a few bread crumbs. They will then follow you forever. — Joseph Stalin

I believe in one thing only, the power of human will. — Joseph Stalin

When one man dies it is a tragedy, when thousands die it's statistics. — Joseph Stalin

Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. — Joseph Stalin

You know, they are fooling us, there is no God. — Joseph Stalin

It doesn't matter who they vote for, they always vote for us ... — Joseph Stalin

At this point the question of Ukraine is the most important. The situation in Ukraine is very bad. If we don't take steps now to improve the situation, we may lose Ukraine. The objective should be to transform Ukraine , in the shortest period of time, into a real fortress of the U.S.S.R. — Joseph Stalin

Personel selection is decisive. People are our most valuable capital. — Joseph Stalin

We don't let them have ideas. Why would we let them have guns? — Joseph Stalin

The easiest way to gain control of the population is to carry out acts of terror. The public will clamor for such laws if their personal security is threatened. — Joseph Stalin