Leon Trotsky

“Fascism is nothing but capitalist reaction.”

“The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.”

“Events can neither be regarded as a series of adventures nor strung on the thread of a preconceived moral. They must obey their own laws.”

“Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man.”

“As long as human labor power, and, consequently, life itself, remain articles of sale and purchase, of exploitation and robbery, the principle of the “sacredness of human life” remains a shameful lie, uttered with the object of keeping the oppressed slaves in their chains.”

“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.”

“From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality.”

“The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces - in nature, in society, in man himself.”

“If we had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes.”

“Let a man find himself, in distinction from others, on top of two wheels with a chain - at least in a poor country like Russia - and his vanity begins to swell out like his tires. In America it takes an automobile to produce this effect.”

“Fascism is a caricature of Jacobinism.”

“There is a limit to the application of democratic methods. You can inquire of all the passengers as to what type of car they like to ride in, but it is impossible to question them as to whether to apply the brakes when the train is at full speed and accident threatens.”

“Technique is noticed most markedly in the case of those who have not mastered it.”

“In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time.”

“Everything is relative in this world, where change alone endures.”

“Similar (of course, far from identical) irritations in similar conditions call out similar reflexes; the more powerful the irritation, the sooner it overcomes personal peculiarities. To a tickle, people react differently, but to a red-hot iron, alike. As a steam-hammer converts a sphere and a cube alike into sheet metal, so under the blow of too great and inexorable events resistances are smashed and the boundaries of “individuality” lost.”

“The bourgeoisie, which far surpasses the proletariat in the completeness and irreconcilibility of its class consciousness, is vitally interested in imposing its moral philosophy upon the exploited masses. It is exactly for this purpose that the concrete norms of the bourgeois catechism are concealed under moral abstractions...The appeal to abstract norms is not a disinterested philosophic mistake but a necessary element in the mechanics of class deception.”

“The masses go into a revolution not with a prepared plan of social reconstruction, but with a sharp feeling that they cannot endure the old regime. Only the guiding layers of a class have a political program, and even this still requires the test of events and the approval of the masses.”

“Learning carries within itself certain dangers because out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies.”

“Everyone has the right to be stupid on occasion, but Comrade Macdonald abuses the privilege.”