Revolutionaries

"U.S. imperialism is the most ferocious enemy confronting the people of the world. Since the war, it has made use of its economic strength, which was inflated during the war, to build up an unprecedented and colossal war machine, brandishing its nuclear weapons and carrying out frantic aggression everywhere in its attempt to dominate the whole world."

"Literature and art should serve politics and the development of the productive forces. Now that we are living in a socialist society, whom should our Peking opera serve? What kind of plays should we stage? Should we serve socialism by staging plays that advance the socialist revolution and socialist construction or should we stage plays that benefit feudalism or capitalism? This is a fundamental question. It is quite clear that if one does not want to see feudalism or capitalism restored, if it does not hanker after these systems, then in a socialist society one cannot be always staging plays about such representatives of the exploiting classes as emperors, kings, generals, ministers, scholars and beauties."

"What is an emperor? He is a representative of the landlord class, the chieftain of the landlords. What is an empress? She is the chief of the landlords’ wives. To be sure, some working people were portrayed in Peking operas in the past, but most of them were shown in a distorted and unfavourable light. How can we in our socialist society tolerate such a state of affairs with Peking opera — so important a stage art, a stage art with a relatively high artistic level and an important artistic heritage — continuing to portray emperors, kings, generals and ministers, and continuing to stage operas which are detrimental to the socialist revolution and socialist construction? That can’t be!"

"Many Peking operas of the past portrayed emperors and kings, generals, ministers, scholars, beauties, lords and dowagers, young gentlemen and ladies; they prettified the exploited classes and denigrated the working people. Very few plays were staged on contemporary revolutionary themes. Over a long period in the past Peking opera in the main served feudalism and capitalism. Many attempts were made to reform Peking opera, and a number of plays were successfully revised, but at the current Festival of Peking Opera on Contemporary Themes we are witnessing for the first time reforms that are so comprehensive and systematic, so rich in content and well received by the broad masses of the people. This is indeed a revolution in Peking opera."

"So far as artistic form is concerned, Peking opera has a relatively long history and has attained a relatively high artistic level; it is a type of opera with relatively strict conventions. For these reasons it is rather difficult to reform. But once successfully reformed, it will have a bright future."

"Our country today is the People’s Republic of China led by the proletariat and based on the worker-peasant alliance. In such a country, a socialist country, where do our workers in literature and art, our fighters on the front or the art of Peking opera, stand? Should they stand with more than 90 per cent of the population, with the workers, peasants and soldiers, that is, on the side of socialism, or on the side of our enemies, the landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, undesirable elements and bourgeois Rightists? I can’t say that absolutely none of you would wish to stand with the landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, undesirable elements and bourgeois Rightists, but I am confident that the overwhelming majority of you are not willing to stand on their side."

"The path U.S. imperialism is taking now is the same path Hitler took in his day. Its aggressive ambition far surpasses Hitler’s, but it is weaker than Hitler, the disparity between strength and ambition being greater. Today it finds itself in an ever worsening strategic position."

"We are historical materialists. We are not indiscriminatingly opposed to staging historical plays. When we oppose putting on plays about people of the past, we are opposing those plays about people of the past which laud feudalism or capitalism, which prettify the exploiting classes. As for those historical plays which fortify the will of the people and destroy the arrogance of the exploiting classes, and which benefit the cause of the people, help social development and the revolution, and further socialism — historical plays which tell of the fine traditions of the Chinese people — of course these can be staged. But the emphasis must be on staging contemporary revolutionary plays about the living masses of the people fighting their struggles, about the living proletariat in the midst of its struggles."

"There are many types of plays on contemporary themes. Hollywood is also producing “plays on contemporary themes”; the rubbish the modern revisionists are staging also goes under the name of “plays with contemporary themes”. But what we are staging are plays on contemporary revolutionary themes serving the workers, peasants and soldiers and the socialist revolution and socialist construction."

"The people of Asia, Africa and Latin America will always be thankful for the influence and impact of the advanced proletariat of the West, for the inspiration and assistance of the Great October Socialist Revolution and for the enlightenment and guidance of the founders of Marxism-Leninism."

"The great Soviet people is a people endowed with the glorious tradition of the October Revolution. The great Communist Party of the Soviet Union is a Party with a long history of revolutionary struggle."

"The historical development of different countries is uneven, and so is the development of their revolutionary movements. While the proletariat in Western Europe and North America is experiencing a new awakening, for various reasons the situation there is not yet ripe for revolution; on the other hand, the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America are holding high the torch of revolution and marching forward."

"Civilization is characterized, rather, by tolerance and open-mindedness. Of course, this does not exclude competition between civilizations, between the values they promote, between their capacities to guarantee the free enjoyment of basic human rights and the development of initiative and the human personality."

"U.S. imperialism has over-reached itself. It has deployed its armed forces in every continent and ocean of the world; it has committed aggression and tried to suppress the people’s revolution everywhere. With its shortage of troops, its far-flung battle fronts, its remote rear and the dispersion of its forces, it is keeping up its strength in one place at the expense of others, and is unable to attend to everything at once Its position is becoming very passive and strategically it is already receiving blows on all sides."

"The structure of the international system, at the end of this century, is experiencing radical changes, particularly the end of the post-war bipolarity, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the cold war. Many new peoples have gained their right to self-determination and democratic development, long repressed by totalitarian regimes."

"Let us hold aloft the revolutionary banner of Marxism-Leninism and boldly advance in the fight against imperialism, reaction and modern revisionism, for world peace, national liberation, people’s democracy and socialism, for the gradual achievement of complete victory in the proletarian world revolution and for the building of a new world without imperialism, without capitalism and without the exploitation of man by man!"

"In our times, Marxist-Leninists have all the greater confidence to declare to the whole world: The extinction of imperialism is inevitable, so is the victory of socialism and communism! The future of the international communist movement is bright, so is the future of the proletarian world revolution."

"The extremely complex situations in various parts of the world and the contradictory currents that exist, with all their attendant risks and uncertainties for overall peace and security, demand a democratic vision of the new international order, which must be built, and abandonment of prejudices in relations between States inherited from the cold-war period. But that is not all. I believe that today we need a vision of the management of international relations in which realism and pragmatism predominate."

"The prosperity of peoples achieved through cooperation was not merely the formula of someday dreamers, but the rationale behind an international body meant to constitute an orderly space for moral and legal values to govern the manifestation of the freedom of creation of human civilization in all its diversity."

"Marxist-Leninist parties should adhere to the revolutionary line, support and assist each other, and perform their proletarian internationalist duty in the present international class struggle and in the great struggle of all the oppressed people and nations for liberation."

"The revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and people of each country goes through different stages and has its own characteristics, but none can be independent of the general laws governing the development of world history. It is of great importance for a proletarian party leading the revolutionary struggle and formulating the revolutionary line and policies of its own country to adhere to the principle of integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete revolutionary practice of its own country. Only when the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism is skillfully integrated with the concrete revolutionary practice of one’s own country, can one make Marxism-Leninism take root, blossom and yield fruit in the country, and lead the revolution to victory."

"International order based on legal norms, even if administered under the authority of the privileged club of the permanent members of the Security Council, represented the embodiment of reason and of the hope that the world would never again fall prey to the demons of hatred and destruction."

"At the present stage, the historical task of the parties of the proletariat in all countries is to unite the revolutionary people of the whole world, unite all the forces that can be united, combat the imperialists and reactionaries, win world peace, national liberation, people’s democracy and socialism, and strive for the gradual achievement of complete victory in the proletarian world revolution and for a new world without imperialism, without capitalism and without the exploitation of man by man."

"Communist parties of the socialist countries should uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat, consolidate and expand the positions of socialism, and carry the socialist revolution through to the end in the political, economic, ideological and cultural fields. Never for a moment must we forget the existence of classes and class struggle, or forget the struggle between the socialist and the capitalist roads. Only thus can we prevent the restoration of capitalism and create the conditions for the transition to communism."

"The knowledge gap is compounded by the ubiquitous phenomenon of brain drain from the developing to the developed world. The problem is almost as old as the United Nations itself."

"While entrusting contemporary Marxist-Leninists and all other revolutionaries with arduous missions, history has at the same time created a wide stage of action for them. On this stage of history all real revolutionary heroes can perform many a revolutionary drama, full of sound and colour, power and grandeur, provided that they truly grasp the invincible weapon of Marxism-Leninism, truly rely on the broad masses of the people, and are courageous and skilful in waging struggles Innumerable revolutionary forerunners have opened up the road, set the example and accumulated experience for us."

"Experience shows that enhanced regional cooperation can be both the engine and the result of globalization."

"Armed for the battle, kneel we before thee / Bless Thou our banners, God of the Brave"

"Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels and gold wands in the bank, and buy a revolver."

"She was like an extinct volcano, her former violent self burnt out ... What she had fought for had not really come into being; maybe nothing on earth could have brought it into being, so romantic and heroic was it."

"...condemned to death, Pardoned, drags out lonely years Conspiring among the ignorant."

"We have no right to forget the good things of the USSR."

"Many people think of the USSR as an empire, but we think of it as our homeland. [...] Sooner or later we will come to the logical conclusion and build the country we dream of."

"The USSR is the country in which we grew up, in which we lived, in which most of us were happy. [...] It is what we all came from. It is love for the Motherland, it is respect for the army, it is upbringing, it is care for the elderly, for children. [...] It is free medicine, free education - the best in the world. America and Europe used our methods and formed their teaching methods from our experience."

"After all, the Cuban people, together with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other leaders, fought for the same thing we are fighting for in Donbass - the right to decide their own fate. And the Cuban people won, even though all the combined forces of the West were against them. Just as they are against us now. That's why Fidel was important to us. That's why we thought and remembered him. [...] And also Fidel Castro was an example for us that he fought for an idea, not for power, oil or money. [...] The very ideas that the Cuban people stood up for are close to us and we understand them. These are the ideas that are now written on our banners: Freedom, Justice, Conscience, Equality. These are the ideas for which one must fight and for which one can die."

"Soviets, as a way of governing, have not lost their relevance even now."

"[Talking about the War in Donbass] Unfortunately, today the world, saved at the cost of millions of lives, is once again being invaded by Nazis. In neighbouring Ukraine, elderly Nazi collaborators and their heirs are marching through towns and villages. The great Victory Banner, which proudly flew over the Reichstag, is banned. We will not allow it in our country; we will always remember and cherish the truth about the great victory. And we must convey this truth to our children and grandchildren."

"Why are we fighting, what do we want to see next, what kind of future are we building? [...] These were ideas of freedom, conscience, justice, equality. These are the things I have on my heart right now, the things I think about, and I think these ideas are shared by the majority of our fellow citizens."

"The entire Donbas militia was ideologically motivated. That is why we are winning. Ideological motivation gives us that quality which overcomes the mechanical advantage of the enemy."

"So many things were changing in our world. We looked, and we searched in revolutionary literature. Maybe we found a few pieces, but there really wasn't much because the world had never really dealt with this. We did take as heroines of our struggle Lolita Lebrón and Blanca Canales because they had been in the Nationalist Party struggle in Puerto Rico. We looked to women like Angela Davis. There were two women in the Panther 21 case at the time, Afeni Shakur and Joan Bird, who had been arrested with the brothers. We were proud that women were going on posters. That was real important because this was new. The face of the civil rights movement had been male."

"The machismo is so strong that there are almost no sisters in the leadership of the independence movement. Where are the Lolita Lebrons, the Canalas, the Viscals?"

"I believe that all of today's movements are important. What is needed is unity to achieve the independence of our nation. Some times posters, other times fires, strikes, votes, all that is necessary. My hopes lie with the youth, because you have the ability to carry the word onward."

"I was in jail for 16 years and 10 months, almost 17 years. The empire does not give recognition to the political prisoner."

"We identified as revolutionary nationalists' committed to ending exploitation and colonialism. We were inspired by the herstories of women activists in Puerto Rico. We learned about Lola Rodríguez de Tió and Mariana Bracetti, early fighters for the abolition of slavery and the island's independence from Spain; Luisa Capetillo and Juana Colón, working class organizers and women's rights advocates; and Lolita Lebrón and Blanca Canales, Nationalist Party militants imprisoned for their actions to free Puerto Rico. We studied the lives of African American women such as Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist and women's rights activist, and Harriet Tubman, who freed slaves through the Underground Railroad. Our sisters in the Black Panther Party were diversifying the image of the revolutionary, and we joined the protests to demand the release of Angela Davis from a California prison, and of Afeni Shakur and Joan Bird in New York. The long line of women activists, from contemporary social justice movements, became our role models and mentors."

"There was racial separation in jail. In one section the white prisoners, in another section the Black prisoners; I was placed with the whites. After a few years they passed an integration law in the jail. The white prisoners refused to abide by that law. I and a group of white communist prisoners decided to struggle against this racism and show those people some decency and the reality that we are all the same. We were the first to integrate. From then on, united with my Black companeras, I enjoyed the best years I had to do in that prison."

"Today Puerto Rico is suffering the most monstruous intervention as our territory is surrounded with land bases and submarine bases with powerful atomic weapons that, because of the smallness of the island, can cause the destruction of all the Puerto Ricans and the total disappearance of the island from the map of the world. And as if this horrible menace were not enough, genocide is being perpetrated in the most shameless way with a massive house to house campaign to force the women to use a u.s. form of birth control. The plan is to prevent the birth of more Puerto Ricans. At the same time, they stop the advancement of our youth when they recruit them to take them to their deaths in the fields of Vietnam. On the other hand, they have no qualms in firing over the heads of the Puerto Ricans who live on the island of Culebra and the u.s marines have the audacity to ask that the people of Culebra abandon their island because the almighty marine of the biggest empire in the world has decided to use this island as a target for their military practices."

"The schools I went to only taught yanqui history. You know stuff like George "I never told a lie" Washington, Bunker Hill, Lincoln freed the slaves. The schools were run by yanquis and discouraged the teaching of Puerto Rican history. But I had a teacher once, Carmen Maria Torres, who used to smuggle into the schools books on Puerto Rican history and she would spend time telling us about Puerto Rican heroes like Betances, and the revolution in Lares on September 23, 1968-I felt re-born."

"The Puerto Rican Nation must continue. We must open our eyes to the oppressor's tricknology and refuse to be killed anymore. We must, in the tradition of Puerto Rican women like Lolita Lebrón, Blanca Canales, Carmen Pérez, and Antonia Martínez, join with our brothers and, together, as a nation of warriors, fight the genocide that is threatening to make us the last generation of Puerto Ricans."

"We Communists are all dead men on leave. Of this I am fully aware. I do not know if you will extend my leave or whether I shall have to join Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. In any case I await your verdict with composure and inner serenity. For I know that, whatever your verdict, events cannot be stopped.{{Cite web"

"In the PSP a group of us organized a woman's caucus; in fact this is what most of the women in Left organizations did. We studied the writings of the Russian leader, Clara Zetkin on the "women's question." We read about revolutionary Cuban women-Haydée Santamaría, Vilma Espín-and the role they played in toppling the Batista government."