Stalin Joseph 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

There are on occasions, as we know, when resources are abundant, but they are expended so incompetently that the advantage is nullified. — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

Once in power, Stalin's campaign to succeed Lenin required a legitimate heroic career which he did not possess because of his experience in what he called 'the dirty business' of politics: this could not be told, either because it was too gangsterish for a great, paternalistic statesman or because it was too Georgian for a Russian leader. His solution was a clumsy but all-embracing cult of personality that invented, distorted and concealed the truth. Ironically this self-promotion was so grotesque that it fanned sparks, sometimes innocent ones, which flared up into colossal anti-Stalin conspiracy-theories. It was easy for his political opponents, and later for us historians, to believe that it was all invented and that he had done nothing much at all - particularly since few historians had researched in the Caucasus where so much of his early career took place. An anti-cult, as erroneous as the cult itself, grew up around these conspiracy-theories. — Simon Sebag Montefiore

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

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

Besides Getting my ass kicked, my main accomplishment on this trip has been to massacre an incredible number of completely innocent clothes. I'm the Joseph Stalin of laundry. — Richard Kadrey

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

It's a real enigma why people are so averse to real free market capitalism even now. Here we are, in the century that has seen Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Castro, Pol Pot-and we're still being warned against the 'robber barons' of the 19th century. I don't know that Jay Gould or John D. Rockefeller ever killed anyone. The State has killed countless people, and yet we're always supposed to remain on guard against these 'greedy villains' of yesteryear. — Joseph Sobran

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

If Stain was such a bad guy why do all these people attribute to him quotes he didn't make or change his actual quotes just enough to make them seem bad? Seem bad rather than visionary. — Joseph Vissarionovich 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

Joseph Stalin was said to have contemptuously asked, "How many divisions has the pope? — Francis Fukuyama

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

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

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

[I]ron discipline does not preclude but presupposes criticism and contest of opinion within the Party. Least of all does it mean that discipline must be 'blind'. On the contrary, iron discipline does not preclude but presupposes conscious and voluntary submission, for only conscious discipline can be truly iron discipline. — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

When the Bolsheviks came to power they were soft and easy with their enemies ... we had begun by making a mistake. Leniency towards such a power was a crime against the working classes. That soon became apparent ... — Joseph Vissarionovich 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

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

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

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

Stalin was formed by much more than a miserable childhood, just as the USSR was formed by much more than Marxist ideology. — Simon Sebag Montefiore

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

When you chop wood, splinters fly — 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

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

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

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

Every time I see a picture of Stalin I look him square in the eye and I say: You're a meat eater, Joseph. — Philip K. Dick

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

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

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. — Joseph Vissarionovich 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

In the future, there will be fewer but better Russians. — 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

I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this - who will count the votes, and how. — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

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

Socialism" is no more an evil word than "Christianity." Socialism no more prescribed Joseph Stalin and his secret police and shuttered churches than Christianity prescribed the Spanish Inquisition. Christianity and socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and shall not starve. — Kurt Vonnegut

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

It is not heroes that make history, but history that makes heroes. — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

In 1946, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin had sought to seize Iran's northern provinces by refusing to withdraw Soviet forces that were deployed there during the war. Truman objected, insisting on maintaining Iran's territorial integrity even if it meant rupturing the already frayed U.S. alliance with the Soviets; Stalin backed off. — Anonymous

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

You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves. — Joseph Vissarionovich 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

[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

Lenin and Stalin created the idiosyncratic Soviet system in the image of their ruthless little circle of conspirators before the Revolution. Indeed much of the tragedy of Leninism-Stalinism is comprehensible only if one realizes that the Bolsheviks continued to behave in the same clandestine style whether they formed the government of the world's greatest empire in the Kremlin or an obscure little cabal in the backroom of a Tiflis tavern. — Simon Sebag Montefiore

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

There was an old bastard named Lenin
Who did two or three million men in.
That's a lot to have done in
But where he did one in
That old bastard Stalin did ten in. — Robert Conquest

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

It may seem somewhat ironic that the Catholic Church finds itself advocating the same position against abortion as its severest Christian critics, the Protestant fundamentalists. In fact, it is no more surprising than finding the so-called pro-life movement keeping company with Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao, all of whom at one time or another banned abortions. What they have in common is their belief, rooted in misogyny, that the woman's right to choose - a fundamental aspect of her autonomy - must be crushed in order to achieve what they have deemed a 'higher' religious, moral or social goal. — Jack Holland

Is a lifelong student of the world's wisdom literature, it is my duty to inform students that ridding the world of evil is a goal very different from any recommended by Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad, though not so different from some recommended by Joseph Stalin, Joseph McCarthy and Mao Tse Tung. — David James Duncan

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

It is difficult for me to imagine what "personal liberty" is enjoyed by an unemployed person, who goes about hungry, and cannot find employment.
Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some by others, where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a man is not haunted by the fear of being tomorrow deprived of work, of home and of bread. Only in such a society is real, and not paper, personal and every other liberty possible. — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

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

There are no fortresses that Bolsheviks cannot storm. — 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

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

When there's a person, there's a problem. When there's no person, there's no problem.
Josef Stalin — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

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

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

If circumstances should make it impossible (temporarily, I hope) for me to be a Russian writer, perhaps I shall be able, like the Pole Joseph Conrad, to become for a time an English writer ... ("Letter To Stalin") — Yevgeny Zamyatin

During World War II, Joseph Stalin was once asked by an American writer, according to Professor Dean Russell, how he could justify conscripting all the property of all the people for use by the government to fight the war. Stalin answered by asking why they considered it more immoral and illogical to conscript lifeless property than to conscript life itself, as was being done in the United States and all other capitalistic countries. His American challenger had no answer, because there was no answer. — Ron Paul

Joseph Stalin is a titan of thought. His name is to be given to an entire century. — Palmiro Togliatti

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

When I first saw the sand, I thought it was beautiful. Like maybe it'd be fun to just roll around in and make sand angels. Now I know the truth, that sand is actually the love child of proud parents Marie Antoinette and Joseph Stalin. — Victoria Scott

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

Stalin was always exceptional, even from childhood. We have relied on Trotsky's unrecognizably prejudiced portrait for too long. The truth was different. Trotsky's view tells us more about his own vanity, snobbery and lack of political skills than about the early Stalin. — Simon Sebag Montefiore

Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything. — Joseph Vissarionovich 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

So much of the inexplicable about the Soviet experience - the hatred of the peasantry for example, the secrecy and paranoia, the murderous witch hunt of the Great Terror, the placing of the Party above family and life itself, the suspicion of the USSR's own espionage that led to the success of Hitler's 1941 surprise attack - was the result of the underground life, the konspiratsia of the Okhrana and the revolutionaries, and also the Caucasian values and style of Stalin. And not just of Stalin. — Simon Sebag Montefiore

History has shown there are no invincible armies. — Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin