The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and their solution.

One would like to stroke and caress human beings, but one dares not do so, because they bite.

Without a revolutionary theory there cannot be a revolutionary movement.

Trust is good, but control is better.

There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.

We are not utopians, we do not “dream” of dispensing at once with all administration, with all subordination. These anarchist dreams, based upon incomprehension of the tasks of the proletarian dictatorship, are totally alien to Marxism, and, as a matter of fact, serve only to postpone the socialist revolution until people are different. No, we want the socialist revolution with people as they are now, with people who cannot dispense with subordination, control, and "foremen and accountants".

Can a nation be free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot.