Joseph Stalin

"Art should be national in form but socialist in content."

"The correctness of a party line is not a matter for mechanical generalization."

"Show me just a little bit of faith, and I'll show you how to build an empire."

"The people who cast the votes decide nothing; the people who count the votes decide everything."

"We must organize the workers and offer them a new way forward."

"Slow down the pace, so you can speed up the march toward socialism."

"The capitalist will sell you the very rope with which to hang him."

"Discipline must be the foundation of all revolutionary work."

"We do not believe in international friendship, we believe in international unity."

"The foundation of socialism must be firm as steel."

"Opportunities are not lost; they are taken by others."

"Without general loyalty to the state, there can be no loyalty to the party."

"A revolution is certainly the most authoritarian thing there is."

"The bourgeoisie will be swept into the dustbin of history."

"Every organization needs a backbone of people who are totally dedicated."

"We are not afraid of difficulties; we are afraid of inadequacy."

"The past is unpredictable, only the future is certain."

"Progress is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of will."

"To know is to have power, to be ignorant is to be enslaved."

"The people need order, even if it comes at a price."

"A writer who publishes without the party's approval is a traitor."

"We build our future through the sweat of our brows."

"Control the past and you control the future; control the present and you control the past."

"Democracy is a bourgeois illusion that must be destroyed."

"The workers are the true owners of the state."

"Betrayal must be punished with absolute severity."

"I prefer a loyal fool to a clever traitor."

"The collective is stronger than any individual."

"History is on our side, and we shall prevail."

"Hesitation is the gravest sin of the revolutionary."