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Leonid Brezhnev

37 quotes

“The general line of our party worked out by its 20th, 21st and 22d congresses is a Leninist line. It was, is and will be the only immutable line in the entire domestic and foreign policy of the Communist party and the Soviet state. The party sees its supreme duty in serving the people, in strengthening the might of our Socialist country, adding to its glory and prestige, consistently and unswervingly implementing the great ideas of Marxism-Leninism.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Text of Brezhnev's Speech at Ceremonies in Red Square", New York Times (October 20, 1964)
“Comrades, our country is a vast Communist construction project. The scope of our work is great. But the tasks facing us in all spheres of life are even more majestic. The development of our economy, science and culture, the strengthening of the defenses of our Socialist power, serves the cause of peace and security of all peoples. Our successes make all mankind confident that the forces of peace and reason are gaining in strength, that the Soviet people are blazing the true way to the triumph of universal peace and progress.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Text of Brezhnev's Speech at Ceremonies in Red Square", New York Times (October 20, 1964)
“Communists have always viewed the national question through the prism of the class struggle, believing that its solution has to be subordinated to the interests of the Revolution, to the interests of socialism. That is why Communists and all fighters for socialism believe that the main aspect of the national question is unification of the working people, regardless of their national origin, in the common struggle against every type of oppression, and for a new social system which rules out exploitation of the working people.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our Party supports and will continue to support peoples fighting for their freedom. In so doing, the Soviet Union does not look for advantages, does not hunt for concessions, does not seek political domination and is not after military bases. We act as we are bid by our revolutionary conscience, our communist convictions.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The substance of socialist democracy lies in efficient socialist organisation of all society for the sake of every individual, and in the socialist discipline of every individual for the sake of all society.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the present epoch, when the international class struggle has grown extremely acute, the danger of Right and ‘Left’ deviations and of nationalism in the communist movement has grown more tangible than ever before. The struggle against Right- and ‘Left’-wing opportunism and nationalism cannot therefore be conducted as a campaign calculated for only some definite span of time. The denunciation of opportunism of all kinds was and remains an immutable law for all Marxist-Leninist Parties.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The defeat of Nazi Germany signified the victory of progress over reaction, humanity over barbarism and the victory of socialism over imperialist obscurantism. This victory opened the road for advancing the revolutionary struggle of the working class, a national liberation movement on an unprecedented scale and the destruction of the shameful colonial system.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of our primary tasks is to foster in people a desire to attain lofty social goals, to foster in them ideological conviction and a truly creative attitude to work. This is a very important area of struggle for communism, and the economic as well as the socio-political development of the country will be increasingly dependent on our successes in this area.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, revisionists and opportunists reflect the pressure of nonproletarian, bourgeois and petty-bourgeois strata, the pressure that results from the force of habit, from the views and vestiges of the past, particularly those that are nationalistic.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We want the world socialist system to be a well-knit family of nations, building and defending the new society together, and mutually enriching each other with experience and knowledge, a family, strong and united, which the people of the world would regard as the prototype of the future world community of free nations.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It stands to the Party’s credit that millions upon millions of Soviet men of every nation and nationality have adopted internationalism—once the ideal of a handful of Communists—as their deep conviction and standard of behaviour. This was a true revolution in social thinking, and one which it is hard to overestimate.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“December 30, 1922, is a truly historic date in the life of our state, an important milestone in the life of all the Soviet peoples, their great festival.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Modern production sets rapidly rising demands not only on machines, on technology, but also and primarily on the workers, on those who create these machines and control this technology. For ever larger segments of workers specialised knowledge and a high degree of professional training, man’s general cultural standard, are becoming an obligatory condition of successful work.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today progress is so swift in all fields that the education received by young people is only a foundation that requires the constant acquisition of knowledge.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our militant union with peoples which still have to carry on an armed struggle against the colonialists constitutes an important element of our line in international affairs.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every man must be made to realize that further retreat is impossible. He must realize with his mind and heart that this is a matter of life and death of the Soviet state, of the life and death of the people of our country...the Nazi troops must be stopped now, before it is too late.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement made in World War II, as a commissar on the southern front, as quoted in Leonid I. Brezhnev : Pages from his Life (1978) by Academy of Sciences of the USSR, p. 49; also in For the Soul of Mankind : The United …
“The most important thing in my life, its leitmotif, has been the constant and close contacts with working people, with workers and peasants.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Sputnik : Digest (1967), p. 48
“When external and internal forces hostile to the development of socialism try to turn the development of a given socialist country in the direction of the restoration of the capitalist system, when a threat arises to the cause of socialism in that country … this is no longer merely a problem for that country's people, but a common problem, the concern of all socialist countries.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the 5th Congress of the Polish United Workers Party (12 November 1968), quoted in The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy (2003) by Matthew J. Ouimet
“We stand for the dismantling of foreign military bases. We stand for a reduction of armed forces and armaments in areas where military confrontation is especially dangerous, above all in central Europe.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Voices of Tomorrow : The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1971) by Jessica Smith, p. 30
“We regard the improvement of Soviet-American relations not as an isolated phenomenon, but as an integral — and very important — part of the wider process of radically improving the international atmosphere. Mankind has outgrown the rigid "cold war" armor which it was once forced to wear. It wants to breathe freely and peacefully. And we will be happy if our efforts to better Soviet-American relations help draw more and more nations into the process of détente — be it in Europe or Asia, in Africa or Latin America, in the Middle or the Far East.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio and Television Address to the American people (June 24, 1973)
“We Communists have got to string along with the capitalists for a while. We need their agriculture and their technology. But we are going to continue massive military programs. . . (soon) we will be in a position to return to a much more aggressive foreign policy designed to gain the upper-hand. . .”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in Kissinger: The Secret Side of the Secretary of State (1976) by Gary Allen
“As you know, I am not a writer but a Party functionary. But like every Communist I consider myself to have been mobilized by Party propaganda and deem it my duty to participate actively in the work of our press.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Reprints from the Soviet Press (1977), p. 5
“Soviet people are better off materially and richer spiritually.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Our Friends Speak : Greetings to the 25th CPSU Congress (1976), p. 268
“We bow our heads in respect for those Soviet women who displayed exceptional courage in the severe time of war. Never before but during the days of the war the grandeur of spirit and the invincible will of our Soviet women, their selfless dedication, loyalty and affection to their Homeland, their boundless persistence in work and their heroism on the front manifested themselves with such strength.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in V karǐni zdiǐsnenoǐ mriǐ (1979) by IE IU Kastelli, p. 54
“Modern science and technology have reached a level where there is the grave danger that a weapon even more terrible than nuclear weapons may be developed. The reason and conscience of mankind dictate the need to erect an insuperable barrier barrier to the development of such a weapon.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Nuclear Disarmament (1979) by Aleksandr Efremovich Efremov
“Of late, attempts have been made in the USA — at a high level and in a rather cynical form — to play the "Chinese card" against the USSR. This is a shortsighted and dangerous policy.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Peace, Détente, and Soviet-American Relations : A Collection of Public Statements (1979), p. 222
“The rout of fascism, in which the Soviet Union played the decisive role, generated a mighty tide of socio-political changes which swept across the globe.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Selected Speeches and Writings (1980) edited by Mikhail Andreevich Suslov
“Regarding the dreams of reaching military superiority over the U.S.S.R., one would do better to drop them. If it has to be, the Soviet people would find the possibility to undertake any additional efforts and to do everything that is necessary to guarantee a reliable defense of their country.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Excerpts from Brezhnev's Replies to Questions on East-West Arms Issues", The New York Times (November 4, 1981)
“We are entirely for the idea that Europe shall be free from nuclear weapons, from medium-range weapons as well as tactical weapons. That would be a real zero option.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Nuclear War: The Search for Solutions (1985) by Leonard V. Johnson, Helen Caldicott, Thomas L. Perry and Dianne DeMille
“It is madness for any country to build its policy with an eye to nuclear war.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Indefensible Weapons : The Political and Psychological Case Against Nuclearism (1992) by Robert Jay Lifton and Richard A. Falk, p. 224
“I shall add that only he who has decided to commit suicide can start a nuclear war in the hope of emerging a victor from it. No matter what the attacker might possess, no matter what method of unleashing nuclear war he chooses, he will not attain his aims. Retribution will inevitably ensue.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Soviet Strategy and the New Military Thinking (1992) by Derek Leebaert and Timothy Dickinson, p. 68
“Detente is a readiness to resolve differences and conflicts not by force, not by threats and sabre-rattling, but by peaceful means, at the conference table.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Brezhnev Reconsidered (2002) by Edwin Bacon, Mark Sandle, p. 99
“God will not forgive us if we fail.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Understanding the Cold War : A Historian's Personal Reflections (2002) by Adam Bruno Ulam and Paul Hollander, p. 269
“Some people in the West now express anxiety over the fact that the Soviet Union has still further outstripped the United States of America in the “space race.” Some people say that the United States is two years behind, others mention five years. Of course, it is pleasure for us that our country is ahead in the exploration of outer space. But we Soviet people do not regard our space research as an end in itself, as some kind of “race.” In the great and serious cause of the exploration and development of outer space, the spirit of frantic gamblers is alien to us. We see in this cause part and parcel of the tremendous constructive work the Soviet people are doing in conformity with the general line of our party in all spheres of the economy, science and culture, in the name of man, for the sake of man.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Text of Brezhnev's Speech at Ceremonies in Red Square", New York Times (October 20, 1964)
“Successes in socialist construction largely depend on the correct combination of the general and the nationally specific in social development. Not only are we now theoretically aware but also have been convinced in practice that the way to socialism and its main features are determined by the general regularities, which are inherent in the development of all the socialist countries. We are also aware that the effect of the general regularities is manifested in different forms consistent with concrete historical conditions and national specifics. It is impossible to build socialism without basing oneself on general regularities or taking account of the concrete historical specifics of each country. Nor is it possible without a consideration of both these factors correctly to develop relations between the socialist states.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Soviet people are perhaps second to none when it comes to knowing what war means. In World War II we won a victory of world historic significance. But in that war over 20 million Soviet citizens died, 70,000 of our towns and villages were devastated, and one third of our national wealth was destroyed. The war wounds have now been healed. Today the Soviet Union is a mightier and more prosperous country than ever before. But we remember the lessons of the war only too well, and that is why the peoples of the Soviet Union value peace so highly; that is why they strongly approve the peace policy of our Party and Government.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio and Television Address to the American people (June 24, 1973)
“Our path has not been an easy one. Our people are proud that in a historically short period of time, after the victory of the Socialist Revolution, backward Russia transformed itself into a major industrial power and achieved outstanding successes in science and culture. We take pride in having built a new society — a most stable and confidently developing society — which has assured all our citizens of social justice and has made the values of modern civilization the property of all the people. We are proud that dozens of previously oppressed nations and nationalities in our country have become genuinely equal, and that in our close-knit family of nations they are developing their economy and culture. We have great plans for the future. We want to raise considerably the living standards of the Soviet people. We want to make new advances in education and medicine. We want to make our villages and towns more comfortable to live in and more beautiful. We have drafted programs to develop the remote areas of Siberia, the North and the Far East, with their immense natural resources. And every Soviet individual is deeply conscious of the fact that the realization of those plans requires peace and peaceful cooperation with other nations.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio and Television Address to the American people (June 24, 1973)