Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely. But one must know the limitations of force; one must know when to blend force with a maneuver, a blow with an agreement. (Leon Trotsky)
The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces - in nature, in society, in man himself. (Leon Trotsky)
In inner-party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this the party organization substitutes itself for the party, the central committee substitutes itself for the organization, and, finally, a ''dictator'' substitutes himself for the central committee. (Leon Trotsky)
Under all conditions well-organized violence seems to him the shortest distance between two points. (Leon Trotsky)
In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle who does not work does not eat, has been replaced by a new one who does not obey shall not eat. (Leon Trotsky)
I feel here that this time they have succeeded. (Leon Trotsky)
Not believing in force is the same as not believing in gravity. (Leon Trotsky)
Life is not an easy matter... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness. (Leon Trotsky)
Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and for ever. (Leon Trotsky)
In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time. (Leon Trotsky)
Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man. (Leon Trotsky)
Fascism is nothing but capitalist reaction. (Leon Trotsky)
There is a limit to the application of democratic methods. You can inquire of all the passengers as to what type of car they like to ride in, but it is impossible to question them as to whether to apply the brakes when the train is at full speed and accident threatens. (Leon Trotsky)
Dialectical materialism is not of course an eternal and immutable philosophy. To think otherwise is to contradict the spirit of the dialectic. Further development of scientific thought will undoubtedly create a more profound doctrine into which dialectical materialism will enter merely as structural material. (Leon Trotsky)
If the Revolution has the right to destroy bridges and art monuments whenever necessary, it will stop still less from laying its hand on any tendency in art which, no matter how great its achievement in form, threatens to disintegrate the revolutionary environment or to arouse the internal forces of the Revolution, that is, the proletariat, the peasantry and the intelligentsia, to a hostile opposition to one another. Our standard is, clearly, political, imperative and intolerant. (Leon Trotsky)