100 sentences on communism and class struggle
In this article you will find a selection of phrases about communism that will help you understand this ideological perspective linked to politics.
But first, it is important to understand some basic ideas about this movement.
The Labor Movement and Marxism
The ideology of communism is one of the political theories that has survived from its birth to the present day. Totalitarianisms, absolutisms, military regimes, authoritarianisms, utopias and other concepts of power or governance have disappeared. But communism has known how to maintain its impact (in a passive and active way) within the political arena.
The foundations of communism were developed by the German thinkers and philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels during the last years of the 19th century. The works of the “Communist Manifesto” or “The Capital” culminated this project.
This political, social and economic ideology promotes the formation of a society without class distinction, without rich or poor, and ultimately aims to achieve the abolition of the state.
On the other hand, the class struggle consists in advocating for the socialization (sharing) of the means of production , which are the necessary tools to produce. In other words, private property would not exist, which would lead the working class to hold power without masters to control and exploit them.
100 sentences on communism
Next, we’ll look at some of the most relevant sentences on communism and class struggle in history. Some of them drink directly from Marxism, while others are inspired by similar sources such as the old socialist or collectivizing tradition.
1. The communists have always played an active role in the struggle for freedom in the colonial territories (Nelson Mandela)
This referent of the struggle against apartheid was a sympathizer of Marxism since his youth.
2. They command today, because you obey! (A. Camus)
A way of denouncing the unconsciousness of the workers in obeying orders.
3. To the violence that comes from above, violence from below! (Helder Camera)
This legitimizes the armed struggle and starts a change by violent means
4. For the society without classes, forward with the teachers’ strike (Emile Henry)
Emile Henry thus supported the legitimacy of stopping production to claim civil rights .
5. There are no innocent bourgeois, gentlemen (Emile Henry)
This was one of the goals of the class struggle–to eliminate the ruling class. That is, the bourgeoisie.
6. Revolutions fail when power is handed over to the “new government” (Ricardo Flores)
A change has to come when the people in your community govern, not through representation.
7. Exercising power corrupts; submitting to power degrades (Mikhail Bakunin)
One of the great anarchist thinkers thus explained what it means to submit to the State.
8. Is it good to be good? (Oscar Wilde)
A way of wanting to legitimize the use of force to achieve socialism.
9. Power programs life, freedom orders it and gives it meaning (Luke)
This is how this communist activist denounced the abuse of power by the state and institutions.
10. One more little killing and humanity will go much better (Jean Rostand)
Jean Rostand was emphatic in asserting in this way the need for armed struggle .
11. The utopist lights up some stars in the sky of human dignity, but sails on a sea without ports. (C. Berneri)
A way of saying that communism has no borders.
12. To be governed is to be observed, spied upon, regulated, numbered, directed… (Pierre J. Proudhon)
This well-known French author and revolutionary saw the State as an enemy
13. Neither democracy nor oligarchy (William Hamilton)
Some communists repudiated democracy, as they considered it the silent weapon of the privileged classes.
14. It is by seeking the impossible that man has achieved the possible (Mikhail Bakunin)
MIkhail Bakunin is one of the most important authors in the class struggle, and with this phrase he sought to motivate his audience.
15. The big ones are big because we are on our knees (Max Stirner)
Max Stirner thus denounced the lack of commitment among the working classes to rise up against the oppressor.
16. We belong to no party, for none can embody our purpose (Herbert Read)
Some communists of the most radical thought, did not believe in institutions or instruments of representation .
17. Under a government that imprisons unjustly, the fairest place to be is in prison (H.D. Thoreau)
Thoreau thus expressed his discomfort with the institutions that “represented the people”.
18. Marxism: Freedom of Thought (Iosif Stalin)
The Russian leader was very clear in his definition of communist thought.
19. Behind every great fortune, there is a great crime (H. Balzac)
The well-known French novelist illustrated in this way what the noble classes really were for him.
20. The man who works has no time to dream, long live the general strike! (Chief Smohalla)
Chief of an Indo-American tribe, was against the exploitation of the worker and called for a general strike.
21. If you do not live as you think, you will end up thinking as you live (M. Gandhi)
He is known as Mahatma Gandhi for his idealism and fight against the oppression of the intellect.
22. Every human being with an identity card is an object (Morin)
This is how Morin criticized his disagreement with the way governments control their citizens and thus are able to subdue them.
23. If hunger is law, plunder is justice (Piotr Trotsky)
Piotr Trotsky was also known for his communist radicalism, and thus defended the right to steal.
24. A moment of true life is worth more than a lifetime of silence (Mikhail Bakunin)
With this moving phrase Mikhail Bakunin encouraged the revolution against the ruling class .
25. We have no more chance than the impossible (George Bataille)
This is how this French thinker described man’s ability to bring about real socialist change.
26. Anarchists are liberals, but more liberal than liberals. We are also socialists, but more socialist than socialists (Nicolas Walter)
Nicolas Walter was a fervent advocate of the abolition of the state and capitalism.
27. To live with dignity is love and freedom (Loelander Tribe)
Not everything was economic freedom and freedom of thought in Loelander Tribe’s mind
28. Your supervisor or foreman gives you more orders in a week than a cop gives in a decade (Bob Black)
This is how Bob Black tried to awaken the consciousness of the worker in front of his masters.
29. Capitalism is not freedom. It steals you and makes you a slave to your wages (Alexander Berkman)
Alexander Berkman was a Lithuanian anarchist who explained the deception hidden in capitalism through wages
30. Since I was born everything was someone’s or someone’s! (Facundo Cabral)
This Argentine poet and singer-songwriter, reflected on the prevailing political-economic system .
31. Blessed be the chaos, it is a symptom of freedom (Enrique Galvan)
A Spanish politician and sociologist, he thus defended anarchist theories.
32. Freedom does not make men happy, it simply makes them men (Manuel Azaña)
President of the Second Spanish Republic, Manuel Azaña described what socialism meant to him.
33. Your heart is free, have the courage to listen to it (William Wallace)
The great Scottish warrior used to recite this phrase before the open field battle against the English army.
34. Nothing is freer than one’s own human imagination (Hume)
The philosopher David Hume gave free rein to freedom of thought.
35. Even if I do not agree with you, I will defend to the death that I can say so (Voltaire)
Françoise-Marie was a pioneer in defending at all costs the right to freedom of expression and thought .
36. Rulers are nothing but the watchdogs of capitalism (Ricardo Flores Magón)
This Mexican politician and communist described what the government was like for him.
37. To seek and find the truth is the most beautiful of enterprises (Herberto Castillo)
Another renowned Mexican politician, thinker and socialist who fought for the goodwill of democratic institutions.
38. When the poor believe in the poor, we can sing freedom and brotherhood (Hugo Chávez)
The Venezuelan leader urged the working classes to believe in his cause.
39. Justice cannot be practiced in a place where human dignity is ignored (José M. Arrizmendiarreta)
This Spanish thinker and philosopher criticized with this phrase the little legitimacy that governments had for him.
40. Give education to children and it will not be necessary to punish men (Pythagoras)
The most successful mathematician of all times thus defended the need to educate society .
41. We are soldiers so that one day no one else will have to be a soldier (Subcomandante Marcos)
Rafael Sebastian is his real name, a Mexican guerrilla who defended the armed struggle to end class distinction.
42. Be able to feel deeply any injustice committed against any human being (Che Guevara)
The most famous communist revolutionary of the 20th century believed in collective sentiment to raise the consciousness of the masses.
43. An eye for an eye, and the world will end up blind (M. Gandhi)
We return to the Indian activist who peacefully rose up against the British empire. He didn’t believe in violence and his struggle was based on this pillar.
44. You can kill the dreamer, but you cannot kill the dream (D. Abernathy)
People die, ideas don’t. This is how the black rights activist Ralph D. Abernathy was emphatic .
45. Brute force is the full right of fools (Cicero)
Marcus Julius Cicero was a politician, thinker and speaker of the Roman Republic, and thus denounced the use of force to impose ideologies.
46. All men are brothers (M. Gandhi)
Mahatma Gandhi had this very fraternal and altruistic way of looking at society.
47. The world is fucked, re fucked, but full of compatriots (Eduardo Galeano)
Eduardo Galeano had high hopes for a better future to end capitalism.
48. Let the rich pay for the crisis, not the poor (Karl Marx)
A phrase that is repeated even today and in times of crisis.
49. Everyone wants freedom, but few know what for (Lenin)
Vladimir Lenin was another Bolshevik revolutionary who started his steps with communist thoughts and theories. Thus he denounced the lack of collective consciousness.
50. Although it sounds ridiculous, the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love (Che Guevara)
Che Guevara was not only a warrior, he also had passion to his credit.
51. To expose the oppressed to the truth, is to expose them to initiate a revolution (Leon Trotsky)
Another radical wing character in the class struggle. Trotsky thus reflected the fear that the ruling classes have of the workers’ struggle.
52. Even the dead cannot rest in an oppressed country (Fidel Castro)
The Cuban leader and revolutionary thus expressed his sentiment in the struggle for independence of the oppressed peoples.
53. You cannot start a revolution with kid gloves on your hands (Iosif Stalin)
Iosif Stalin was known for his military mind and use of force to implement the communist revolution.
54. First you have to assemble the head, then the hands (Max Gorki)
A revolutionary communist writer and politician, he placed great importance on education and culture for independent thought.
55. The worker needs respect more than bread (Karl Marx)
For Marx, above money is human dignity .
56. If we were able to unite, how beautiful and close the future would be (Che Guevara)
At times the feeling of unity among the communist movements was weakening.
57. A camel will go through the eye of a needle rather than a rich man in the kingdom of heaven (Jesus of Nazareth)
Some interpret in the divinity, the legitimacy that socialism had to enjoy.
58. Communism is not love, it is a mace we use to crush the enemy (Mao Tse Tung)
As the top leader of the Communist Party in China, Mao also believed in armed struggle.
59. I have always been an admirer of Jesus Christ because He was the first communist: He multiplied the loaves and fishes, and that is what we intend to do (Fidel Castro)
Returning to the heavenly reference, Fidel Castro thus expressed his admiration for the highest representative of Christianity.
60. If you wait by the river long enough, you will see how the current drags the bodies of all your enemies (Ho Chi Minh)
Ho Chi Min was the Vietnamese communist revolutionary , and endured the American onslaught in the Vietnam War.
61. I see a little light of hope that had long since disappeared (Rafael MartÃnez)
A Chilean thinker and writer, he thus expressed his hope for the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
62. I do not intend to serve for 100 years (Fidel Castro)
This is how Fidel Castro expressed his long-term political intentions.
63. Under Capitalism, man exploits man. Under Communism, the opposite is true (John Galbraith)
A Canadian economist, he was a staunch defender of socialism as an economic model.
64. Only under Communism will the individual lead his own destiny (Johann Most)
This is how the German thinker defended the establishment of a system that was contrary to capitalism.
65. Communism doesn’t just work because people like to buy things (Frank Zappa)
American film director Frank Zappa made this criticism of the thinking of the masses and referred to the reasons why he understood that communism had failed.
66. Communism should mean only one thing: to put an end to private property (Karl Marx)
For Karl Marx abolishing private property was an irreducible condition.
67. Communism is the exploitation of the weak towards the strong (Proudhon)
Proudhon talked like this about what communism was after.
68. Learn from the masses, and then teach them the way (Mao Tse Tung)
Mao also pointed out the importance of education and culture .
69. Our voice is independent and represents our dignity in the face of imperialism (Hugo Chávez)
Hugo Chávez FrÃas was another leader who was against the capitalist system.
70. People pay for their own subordination (Noam Chomsky)
This researcher talks about the paradox of obedience: maintaining with sacrifice a model of relationships that oppresses the citizen.
71. If you teach the same thing you taught five years ago, your theories are dead. Or you are (Noam Chomsky)
This is how Noam Chomsky denounced the need for regeneration of ideas.
72. There is only one way to eliminate the serious evils: the establishment of a socialist economy (Albert Einstein)
Einstein even wrote in favour of socialism , and proposed the creation of a political model based on the planned economy.
73. War is peace. Freedom is slavery (George Orwell)
Writer George Orwell was thus surprised by these statements, seeing in the freedom of the Western world a deliberate deception.
74. Anarchy is not disorder, but order, not of power, but of freedom, equality and fraternity (Piotr Kropotkin)
Piotr Kropotkin was another anarchist revolutionary, and thus defended his ideologies.
75. Peace for Men, War for Institutions (Lenin)
This is how Lenin justified the war against governments, understood as a source of oppression.
76. Behind every crime there is always some institution (H. Balzac)
Balzac was thus critical of the existence of institutions and the existence of the state.
77. Ten armed men of justice are worth more than 1000 soldiers in the pay of a king (William Wallace)
Thus the Scottish warrior emboldened his small army to fight the English.
78. Our communism is not that of the German authoritarian theorists. Our communism is anarchistic, without government, that of the free man (Piotr Kropotkin)
Piotr Kropotkin thus differentiated between Marxist communism and anarchism .
79. In a revolution one either triumphs or dies, if it is true (Che Guevara)
One of Che Guevara’s mottos.
80. The value of a community represents its accumulated work (Karl Marx)
Karl Marx had a deep-seated collective feeling.
81. Communism must be free like love, that is, it must be anarchist or not exist (Librado Rivera)
Another communist politician who fought during the Mexican Revolution of the 20th century .
82. Socialism was made for the whole man (Che Guevara)
This is how the Cuban warrior defended the socialist ideology.
83. Capitalism is indefensible; socialism, with all its errors, is the most noble thing that man could do (Fidel Castro)
Fidel Castro explained the differences between the two systems in this way.
84. Either we take the path of socialism or the world ends (Hugo Chávez)
This is how forcefully the Venezuelan leader showed himself to raise awareness among his people.
85. We shall now proceed to the building of the socialist (Lenin) order
Lenin showed conviction and courage from exile to the communist cause.
86. Socialism means justice and equality, but equal rights and opportunities, not income (Raúl Castro)
Brother of former Cuban President Fidel, he followed in the same footsteps and thus explained his inclination towards communism.
87. Organization is good, but control is even better (Lenin)
Lenin advocated the assault on power, not just protest against it.
88. One of the fundamental objectives of communism is to eliminate individual interest (Che Guevara)
In the same vein as Karl Marx, Che explained why it was so important for communism to triumph.
89. Socialism is the only way for people to achieve a profound change in their living conditions (Carlos Fonseca)
Spanish writer, Carlos Fonseca is an activist and socialist of the contemporary era .
90. The class struggle and the struggle for the means of production are the pillars for building a powerful socialist (Mao Tse Tung) country
In this way the Chinese leader laid the foundations for the construction of a socialist country.
91. If we lose sight of the class struggle, it shows the incomprehension of Marxism (Lenin)
Vladimir Lenin was very clear that class struggle was indispensable for consolidating the communist revolution.
92. The social process will not disappear because a leader disappears (Salvador Allende)
This is how the former Chilean president expressed his hope shortly before he was assassinated for his ideas after Pinochet’s coup d’état.
93. Socialism means a leap from the realm of necessity to that of freedom (Leon Trotsky)
Leon Trotsky offered this reflection, superimposing freedom over material needs.
94. The distinction between North and South is just another weapon to enslave people (Hugo Chávez)
Hugo Chávez thus reflected the great problem of distinguishing countries and political maps geographically.
95. We call it justice but it’s really love! (Leon Felipe)
It is not only a political movement, it is also a feeling.
96. Socialists do not die: socialists are sown (Pablo Iglesias)
Founder of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Pablo Iglesias thus defended the socialist ideology.
97. Political freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie. The worker does not want more lies (Mikhail Bakunin)
Mikhail Bakunin insisted on control by the means of production; it was not enough to achieve political freedom.
98. Socialism cannot succeed in one country (Russia). It must succeed in all of Europe and the United States (Leon Trotsky)
The Russian thinker saw the need to expand the struggle to all continents.
99. Socialism or Barbarism (Rosa Luxemburgo)
This is how Rosa Luxemburg appeared in front of the microphones during a press conference. She was a theorist and militant of the German social democratic party during the 19th century.
100. What a socialist seeks is that no one be so rich as to bring another to his knees and no one be so poor as to have to kneel before another (Alfonso Guerra)
A Spanish politician during the transition, and later President of Spain, he thus defended the need to establish a socialist model after 40 years of military dictatorship.