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The Left Opposition declared that the new tempo of industrialization were above our forces, and that the liquidation of the kulaks as a class in the course of three years was a fantastic task, if one wishes to say so, we find ourselves this time "less radical" than the Stalinists.
Leon Trotsky -
Revolutions are always verbose.
Leon Trotsky
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Revolutionary realism tries to draw the maximum advantage from every situation - that is what makes it revolutionary - but at the same time it does not permit us to set ourselves fantastic aims - that is what makes it realistic.
Leon Trotsky -
Simultaneously the Left Opposition in the course of several years carried on a struggle against the Stalinists in favor of collectivization.
Leon Trotsky -
Independent character is like independent thought, it cannot be developed without criticism.
Leon Trotsky -
The task of the proletariat is to create a still more powerful fatherland with a far greater power of resistance, the Republican United States of Europe, as the foundation of the United States of the World.
Leon Trotsky -
The Soviet Union bureaucracy not only has not disappeared, yielding its place to the masses, but has turned into an uncontrolled force dominating the masses.
Leon Trotsky -
Without a correct strategy the victory is impossible. But even the most correct strategy cannot give the victory under unfavorable objective conditions.
Leon Trotsky
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Tell me anyway--Maybe I can find the truth by comparing the lies.
Leon Trotsky -
One of the most surprising things in life is the sudden realization that one has become old.
Leon Trotsky -
In Russia itself the proletariat conquered in spite of the fact that there was no Soviet State in existence at the time elsewhere. For the victory are necessary, not only certain objective conditions, internal as well as external, but also certain subjective factors - the Party, the leadership, the strategy.
Leon Trotsky -
The initiative of the Five Year Plan and of the accelerated collectivization belongs entirely to the Left Opposition, in uninterrupted and sharp struggles with the Stalinists. Not having the possibility of occupying myself here with long historical researches, I will limit myself to a single illustration. The Dnieprostroy is considered with right as the highest achievement of Soviet industrialization. Yet [Joseph] Stalin and his followers ([Clim] Voroshilov and others) a few months before the beginning of the work were decided opponents of the Dnieprostroy plan.
Leon Trotsky -
...capitalism does live by crises and booms, just as a human being lives by inhaling and exhaling.
Leon Trotsky -
To renounce the conquest of power is voluntarily to leave the power with those who wield it, the exploiters. The essence of every revolution consisted and consists in putting a new class in power, thus enabling it to realize its own program in life. It is impossible to wage war and to reject victory.
Leon Trotsky
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He who slanders the victim aids the executioner.
Leon Trotsky -
The motive force of history is truth and not lies.
Leon Trotsky -
Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.
Leon Trotsky -
Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man.
Leon Trotsky -
To overthrow the power of the bourgeoisie and to establish the power of the proletariat in one country still does not signify the full victory of Socialism.
Leon Trotsky -
If one cannot get along without a mirror, even in shaving oneself, how can one reconstruct oneself or one's life, without seeing oneself in the "mirror" of literature?
Leon Trotsky
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[Vladimir] Lenin died in January, 1924; three months later [Joseph] Stalin expounded in writing Lenin's conception of the proletarian revolution.
Leon Trotsky -
Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full.
Leon Trotsky -
If we close our eyes to the dark sides of the workers' State which we have helped to create, we shall never reach socialism.
Leon Trotsky -
Our planet is being turned into a filthy and evil-smelling imperialist barrack.
Leon Trotsky