Joseph Stalin

History shows that there are no invincible armies.

One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.

If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.

You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves.

When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope we use.

A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron.

Death solves all problems – no man, no problem.

Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.

I trust no one, not even myself.

Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.

If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a “peace conference,” you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and airplanes.

It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do.

In the Soviet army it takes more courage to retreat than advance.

The only real power comes out of a long rifle.

The Pope? How many divisions has he got?

Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.

Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union.

We don’t let them have ideas. Why would we let them have guns?

The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.

I believe in one thing only, the power of human will.

Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach.

The writer is the engineer of the human soul.

Mankind is divided into rich and poor, into property owners and exploited; and to abstract oneself from this fundamental division; and from the antagonism between poor and rich means abstracting oneself from fundamental facts.

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.

Death is the solution to all problems. No man – no problem.