“The soundest strategy in war is to postpone operations until the moral disintegration of the enemy renders the delivery of the mortal blow both possible and easy.”

Autocracy cannot do without its twin agents: a hangman and a priest, the first to suppress popular resistance by force, the second to sweeten and embellish the lot of the oppressed with empty promises of a heavenly kingdom.

The bourgeoisie is many times stronger than we. To give it the weapon of freedom of the press is to ease the enemy’s cause, to help the class enemy. We do not desire to end in suicide, so we will not do this.

The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.

Only an armed people can be the real bulwark of popular liberty.

Atheism is the natural and inseparable part of Communism.

Our program necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism.

One must always try to be as radical as reality itself.

How can you make a revolution without executions?

A democracy is a state which recognizes the subjection of the minority to the majority, that is, an organization for the systematic use of violence by one class against the other, by one part of the population against another.

Only by abolishing private property in land and building cheap and hygienic dwellings can the housing problem be solved.

We must pursue the removal of church property by any means necessary in order to secure for ourselves a fund of several hundred million gold rubles.

We do not have time to play at “oppositions” at “conferences.” We will keep our political opponents,whether open or disguised as “nonparty,” in prison.

Trust is good, but control is better.

We would be deceiving both ourselves and the people if we concealed from the masses the necessity of a desperate, bloody war of extermination, as the immediate task of the coming revolutionary action.

You must have your heart on fire and your brain on ice.

The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them in parliament.

Seeing yourself through the eyes of others makes it easier to love yourself.

Recognize when your peak energy occurs during the day. Allocate the most difficult projects to that period. Work on easy projects at low-energy times

When you think that it’s too hard, remember that in the long run, doing the things that will make you successful is a lot easier than being unsuccessful.

Habits are like comfortable beds. They are easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.

I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a teacup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.

It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.

A spiritually established life is not an easy task. But a materially satisfied life is an impossible task.

One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily.