Socialism Quotes
|
Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.
|
More Socialism Quotes
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— "Cambodian Road Trip," 15 March 2009
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— Said in 1908.
Socialism is, among other things, the political habitat of low self-esteem, incompetence, self-loathing, and a willingness to steal – or have stolen for you what you are unable or unwilling to work for. Socialism is a philosophy fit only for slugs, leaches, and mosquitoes.
l. neil smith— "Alice Shrugged,"[18] 18 December 2008
"The revelation of the secret of water will put an end to all manner of speculation or expediency and their excrescences, to which belong war, hatred, impatience and discord of every kind. The thorough study of water therefore signifies the end of monopolies, the end of all domination in the truest sense of the word and the start of a Socialism arising from the development of individualism in its most perfect form."
viktor schauberger— Implosion Magazine, No. 6, p. 29 (Callum Coats: Energy Evolution (2000))
The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go. And in the work of abolishing it the Catholic and the Protestant, the Catholic and the Jew, the Catholic and the Freethinker, the Catholic and the Buddhist, the Catholic and the Mahometan will co- operate together? For, as we have said elsewhere, Socialism is neither Protestant nor Catholic,Christian norFreethinker,Buddhist,Mahometan, nor Jew; it isonly HUMAN.
james connolly— 1910 Labour, Nationality, and Religion.
It is fundamental to Socialism that we should liquidate the British Empire as soon as we can.
stafford cripps— Hull Daily Mail, 2 March, 1936.
We mustn't fear to adopt the advanced management methods applied in capitalist countries (...) The very essence of Socialism is the liberation and development of the productive systems (...) Socialism and market economy are not incompatible (...) We should be concerned about right-wing deviations, but most of all, we must be concerned about left-wing deviations.
Deng Xiaoping— Cited by António Caeiro in Pela China Dentro (translated), Dom Quixote, Lisboa, 2004.
Socialism without public ownership is nothing but a fantastic apology
michael foot— The Daily Herald, 1956.
As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.
— George Orwell, in The Road to Wigan Pier, Ch. 11.
We are convinced that liberty without Socialism is privilege, injustice; and that Socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality.
mikhail bakunin— "Federalism, Socialism, Anti-Theologism", presented by Bakunin as a Reasoned Proposal to the Central Committee of the League for Peace and Freedom, at the League's first congress held in Geneva (September 1867).
— Variant translation: We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality.As quoted in The Political Philosophy of Bakunin : Scientific Anarchism (1953) edited by Grigori? Petrovich Maksimov, p. 269
Conservatism, though a necessary element in any stable society, is not a social program; in its paternalistic, nationalistic and power adoring tendencies it is often closer to Socialism than true liberalism; and with its traditionalistic, anti-intellectual, and often mystical propensities it will never, except in short periods of disillusionment, appeal to the young and all those others who believe that some changes are desirable if this world is to become a better place.
friedrich hayek— p. xi (The Road to Serfdom (1944))
Democracy is the road to Socialism.
karl marx— Attributed to Marx in recent years, including in Communism (2007) by Tom Lansford, p. 48, but the earliest occurrence of this yet located is in The Communist Review (1952) by the Communist Party of Great Britain, p. 15, where it is used to characterize the Communist agenda.
The Socialist papers?came out full tothethroat of well- printed matter?admirable and straightforward expositions of the doctrines and practice of Socialism, free from hasteand spiteand hard words?with a kind of May-day freshness amidst the worryand terror of the moment.
william morris— 1890 News from Nowhere.
[National Socialism] has survived the flames of war and the tempest of vilification because, when war has done its worst and vilification has run its entire gamut, National Socialism remains, in the final analysis, synonymous with higher man's will to survive, his instinct for health and strength, and his desire for beauty in life; and, as long as that will, that instinct, and that desire remain on this earth, the creed of National Socialism will remain, indestructible.
— "National Socialism: A Philosophical Appraisal," National Socialist World, I (1966), 5-7. Quoted in Fascism (1995), edited by Roger Griffin, p.325.
Socialism is what a Labour government does.
herbert morrison— An example of this attribution is Peter Riddell, "We believed you, Tony, but what comes next?", The Times, 14 January 2002, p. 16.
Socialism is the completion of democracy, not the negation of it.
terry eagleton— Chapter 9, p. 202
Socialism and SF are the two most fundamental influences in my life.
china miéville— interview with Joan Gordon
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— Der Stürmer, January 6, 1944, quoted in "The Trial of the Germans" - Page 57 - by Eugene Davidson - History - 1997
Let me hear that dirty word Socialism.
— Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth in Bulworth (1998) written by Warren Beatty
Marxism has led to Fascism and National-Socialism, because, in all essentials, it is Fascism and National Socialism.
— Frederick Augustus Voigt, Unto Cæsar (1939), p. 95
In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. If the world is lucky enough to enjoy peace, it may even one day make the discovery, to the horror of doctrinaire free-enterprisers and doctrinaire planners alike, that what is called capitalism and what is called Socialism are both capable of working quite well.
john kenneth galbraith— "The American Economy: Its Substance and Myth," quoted in Years of the Modern (1949), ed. J.W. Chase
The capitalist process shapes things and souls for Socialism.
joseph schumpeter— Part III, Chapter XIX, Section I, pg.220
That democratic Socialism, the great utopia of the last few generations, is not only unachievable, but that to strive for it produces something so utterly different that few of those who wish it would be prepared to accept the consequences, many will not believe until the connection has been laid bare in all its aspects.
friedrich hayek— p. 23 (The Road to Serfdom (1944))
No Bolshevik, no Communist, no intelligent socialist has ever entertained the idea of violence against the middle peasants. All socialists have always spoken of agreement with them and of their gradual and voluntary transition to Socialism.
— "Reply to a Peasant’s Question" (15 February 1919); Collected Works, Vol. 36, p. 501
I don't like the spirit of Socialism – I think freedom is the basis of everything.
bertrand russell— Letter to Constance Malleson (Colette), September 29, 1916.
Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as Socialism.
Earl Warren— Address to National Press Club in Washington DC, as quoted in Freedom and Union (April 1952)Variants:Most people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress, but they consider the things government does for others as socialism.As quoted in Politics and Policies : The Continuing Issues (1970) by Duane W. Hill, p. 170
The Idiots of Socialism are slaves, but they are no one's property and therefore no one's loss.
— George Reisman, in Capitalism : A Treatise on Economics (1996)
In both theory and practice the SPGB was an extreme manifestation of the pre-1917 Marxist tradition. Its function was to educate the workers in the intractability of capitalism and the hopelessness of all trade union action or reform: its medium was the streetcorner pitch where speakers would harangue passers-by and sell the Socialist Standard . Since prospective members were examined for their knowledge of Marxism and ability to speak in public, and since they prided themselves on their ‘scientific Socialism’, propagandists of the SPGB enjoyed a reputation as formidable Marxist purists.
— Stuart Macintyre, A Proletarian Science: Marxism in Britain 1917–1933, 1980.
