History shows that there are no invincible armies and that there never have been.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
“Comrades! Citizens! Brothers and sisters! Men of our army and navy!”, Radio Address (3 Jul 1941)
A few weeks after the invasion of the USSR by Germany. Full text.
We think that powerful and lifeful movement is impossible without differences — “true conformity” is possible only in the cemetery.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
“Our purposes,” Pravda (first issue) (22 January 1912)
To govern is not to write resolutions and distribute directives, to govern is to control the implementation of the directives.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
(Attributed)
Quoted in Neil McInes, The Communist Parties of Western Europe, ch. 3 (1975)
To choose one’s victims, to prepare one’s plan minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then to go to bed … there is nothing sweeter in the world.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
(Attributed)
In Robert Conquest, “Lenin’s Guffaw,” New Republic (15 Sep 1986). Remark to colleague before signing almost 40,000 death warrants.
A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
(Spurious)
No source for this has been found. Alternate versions: "Death of one man is a tragedy. Death of a million is a statistic," "One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is just a statistic," "When one dies, it is a tragedy. When a million die, it is a statistic," "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." May have come from Erich Maria LRemarque, Der schwarze Obelisk) (1956): "Aber das ist wohl so, weil ein einzelner immer der Tod ist — und zwei Millionen immer nur eine Statistik."
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.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
[Я считаю, что совершенно неважно, кто и как будет в партии голосовать; но вот что чрезвычайно важно, это - кто и как будет считать голоса.]
Comment (1923)
Alt. trans.: "I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how." Quoted in B. Bazhanov, The Memoirs of Stalin's Former Secretary (1992) [Борис Бажанов. Воспоминания бывшего секретаря Сталина]
Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
Interview with H. G. Wells (Sep 1937)
Full text.
In the Soviet Army, it takes more courage to retreat than advance.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Soviet political leader
Remark to Averell Harriman
Harriman, the US ambassador to the USSR, quotes Stalin in B. Sokolov, The Truth about the Great Patriotic War. Full text.
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