Socialism Quotes - Page 15

• Communist regimes were not some unfortunate aberration, some historical deviation from a socialist ideal. They were the ultimate expression, unconstrained by democratic and electoral pressures, of what socialism is all about. ... In short, the state [is] everything and the individual nothing.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Expression, Historical, Aberration

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• Socialism's results have ranged between the merely shabby and the truly catastrophic - poverty, strife, oppression and, on the killing fields of communism, the deaths this century of perhaps 100 million people. Against that doctrine was set a contrary, conservative belief in a law-governed liberty. It was this view which triumphed with the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. Since then, the Left has sought rehabilitation by distancing itself from its past.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Wall, Past, Views

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• The status of women up to now has been compared to that of a slave; women have been tied to the home, and only socialism can save them from this. They will only be completely emancipated when we change from small-scale individual farming to collective farming and collective working of the land.

  Vladimir Lenin

  Home, Land, Slave

  "First All-Russia Congress of Working Women". Speech on November 19, 1918, published on Pravda No. 253, November 22, 1918. Collected Works, Volume 28, pages 180-182, www.marxists.org.

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• Marx's Kapital is not a treatise on socialism; it is a gerrymand against the bourgeoisie. It was supposed to be written for the working class, but the working man respects the bourgeoisie and wants to be a bourgeoisie. Marx never got a hold of him for a moment. It was the revolting sons of the bourgeoisie itself, like myself, that painted the flag red. The middle and upper classes are the revolutionary element in society. The proletariat is the conservative element.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Son, Men, Class

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• No word in our language - not even "Socialism" - has been employed more loosely than "Mysticism." The history of the word begins in close connexion with the Greek mysteries. A mystic is one who has been, or is being, initiated into some esoteric knowledge of Divine things, about which he must keep his mouth shut.

  William Ralph Inge

  Greek, Mouths, Esoteric

  "Christian Mysticism: The Bampton Lectures". Book by William Ralph Inge, Lecture I, www.gutenberg.org. 1899.

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• Monotheism at Sinai, primitive Christianity, messianic socialism: these are the three supreme moments in which Western culture is presented with what Ibsen termed "the claims of the ideal." These are the three stages, profoundly interrelated, through which Western consciousness is forced to experience the blackmail of transcendence.

  George Steiner

  Western Culture, Three, Consciousness

  "In Bluebeard's Castle". Book by George Steiner, 1971.

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• While there's capitalism, there'll be socialism, because there is always a response to injustice.

  Ed Miliband

  Injustice, Response, Capitalism

  "How the Daily Mail distorted words from my book to attack Ralph Miliband" by Michael Newman, www.theguardian.com. October 1, 2013.

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• The rest of the world in which I lived was still stumbling about in search of a weapon with which to exterminate this monster [homosexuality] whose shape and size were not yet known or even guessed at. It was thought to be Greek in origin, smaller than socialism but more deadly, especially to children.

  Quentin Crisp

  Children, Greek, Monsters

  "The Naked Civil Servant". Book by Quentin Crisp, Chapter 3, 1968.

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• If, however, a government refrains from regulations and allows matters to take their course, essential commodities soon attain a level of price out of the reach of all but the rich, the worthlessness of the money becomes apparent, and the fraud upon the public can be concealed no longer.

  John Maynard Keynes

  Money, Government, Deception

  John Maynard Keynes (1929). “The Economic Consequences of the Peace: The classic text on the Treaty of Versailles and post war Europe”, p.141, Harriman House Limited

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• Competition, free enterprise, and an open market were never meant to be symbolic fig leaves for corporate socialism and monopolistic capitalism.

  Ralph Nader

  Competition, Figs, Enterprise

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• The American People will take Socialism, but they won't take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC [End Poverty in California]. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to 'End Poverty in California' I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them.

  Upton Sinclair

  Running, Lying, Epic

  Upton Sinclair “The Jungle”, Lulu.com

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• So I shamelessly say, no, I want him [Obama] to fail, if his agenda is a far- left collectivism, some people say socialism, as a conservative heartfelt, deeply, why would I want socialism to succeed?

  Rush Limbaugh

  People, Heartfelt, Want

  "Rush Limbaugh's Shocking Words for President Obama". "The Hannity Show", www.foxnews.com. January 22, 2009.

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• Everyday I become more convinced, there is no doubt in my mind, and as many intellectuals have said, that it is necessary to transcend capitalism. But capitalism can't be transcended from with capitalism itself, but through socialism, true socialism, with equality and justice. I'm also convinced that it is possible to do it under democracy, but not in the type of democracy being imposed by Washington.

  Hugo Chavez

  Justice, Doubt, Everyday

  "Venezuela’s Chavez Closes World Social Forum with Call to Transcend Capitalism". Hugo Chavez's closing speech at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, venezuelanalysis.com. January 31, 2005.

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• Philanthropy is lost. The human spirit is suppressed. Most people want a legacy; they want to give something back, a library, a hospital wing, a donation to their church. This is a form of socialism that must go.

  Lindsey Graham

  Wings, People, Giving

  "Estate Tax Debate". "PBS NewsHour" with Kwame Holman, www.pbs.org. June 8, 2000.

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• Socialism without public ownership is nothing but a fantastic apology.

  Michael Foot

  Apology, Fantastic, Ownership

  The Daily Herald, 1956.

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• As a poodle may have his hair cut long or his hair cut short, as he may be trimmed with pink ribbons or with blue ribbons, yet he remains the same old poodle, so capitalism may be trimmed with factory laws, tenement laws, divorce laws and gambling laws, but it remains the same old capitalism. These "humanitarian parts" are only trimming the poodle. Socialism, one and inseparable with its "antirent and anticapital parts," means to get rid of the poodle.

  Daniel De Leon

  Mean, Divorce, Cutting

  "Trimming the Poodle". "The Daily People" Newspaper, November 2, 1908.

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• Our anti-crisis policy is aimed at supporting domestic demand, providing social guarantees for the population, and creating new jobs. Like many countries, we have reduced production taxes, leaving money in the economy. We have optimised state spending.

  Vladimir Putin

  Country, Jobs, Honesty

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum, archive.premier.gov.ru. January 28, 2009.

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• We must seek support in the moral values that have ensured the progress of our civilization. Honesty and hard work, responsibility and faith in our strength are bound to bring us success. There should be no place for despondency. The crisis can and must be fought by uniting our intellectual, spiritual and material resources.

  Vladimir Putin

  Spiritual, Honesty, Responsibility

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• I believe that the 21st century economy is an economy of people, not of factories. The intellectual factor has become increasingly important in the economy, which is why we are planning to focus on providing additional opportunities for people to realise their potential.

  Vladimir Putin

  Honesty, Responsibility, Power

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum, archive.premier.gov.ru. January 28, 2009.

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• Frankly speaking, we all know that provoking military and political instability, regional, and other conflicts is a helpful means of distracting the public from growing domestic social and economic problems in certain countries. Such attempts cannot be ruled out, unfortunately.

  Vladimir Putin

  Honesty, Military, Responsibility

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum, archive.premier.gov.ru. January 28, 2009.

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• Developments since the rise of National Socialism make it probable that the continent will be freed from its Jewish destroyers of people and exploiters forever, and the German example after the German victory in World War II will also serve to bring about the destruction of the Jewish world tormentors on other continents.

  Julius Streicher

  War, People, Forever

  "The Trial of the Germans" by Eugene Davidson, (p. 57), 1997.

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• The trouble is with socialism, which resembles a form of mental illness more than it does a philosophy. Socialists get bees in their bonnets. And because they chronically lack any critical faculty to examine and evaluate their ideas, and because they are pathologically unwilling to consider the opinions of others, and most of all, because socialism is a mindset that regards the individual and his rights as insignificant, compared to whatever the socialist believes the group needs, terrible, terrible things happen when socialists acquire power.

  L. Neil Smith

  Philosophy, Believe, Rights

  "Cambodian Road Trip". The Libertarian Enterprise, www.ncc-1776.org. March 15, 2009.

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• Socialism, whether it's the 'soft tyranny' of the EuroAmerican management state or the murderously repressive forms taken by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or Pol Pot, is all about disindividuation, a steady, relentless erasure of the individual differences among us, everything that makes us who we are. 'Everybody in, nobody out!' is the marching mantra of militant collectivized medicine, but it accurately describes all other aspects of collectivism as well. No alternatives allowed, no choices, no individualism, no individuality, and ultimately, no individuation.

  L. Neil Smith

  Taken, Individual Differences, Medicine

  "Back to the Trees!". The Libertarian Enterprise, www.ncc-1776.org. April 11, 2010.

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• There is an old joke about socialism as the synthesis of the highest achievements of the whole human history to date: from prehistoric societies it took primitivism; from the Ancient world it took slavery; from medieval society brutal domination; from capitalism exploitation; and from socialism the name.

  Slavoj Žižek

  Names, Achievement, World

  Vladimir Ilʹich Lenin, Slavoj Žižek (2002). “Revolution at the Gates: A Selection of Writings from February to October 1917”, p.311, Verso

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• To claim for socialism that it is a class war is to do it an injustice and indefinitely postpone its triumph. Socialism offers a platform broad enough for all to stand upon. It makes war upon a system, not upon a class.

  Keir Hardie

  War, Class, Triumph

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