Joseph Stalin

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

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.

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

Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.

The Pope? How many divisions has he got?

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.

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

I trust no one, not even myself.

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

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

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

An honest journalist is a journalist who knows what he wants to say and says it, a dishonest journalist is one who knows what he wants to say and says something else.

Gratitude is a dog's disease.

When there is no one left, no problem.

Print is the sharpest and most powerful weapon of our Party.

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.

Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.

We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in 10 years. Either we do it, or they will crush us.

To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plans minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then to go to bed... there is nothing sweeter in the world.

The writer is the engineer of the human soul.