Introduction
Leonid Brezhnev was the second-longest-ruling leader of the Soviet Union(1964-1982). Brezhnev took power in the USSR after a bloodless coup against Nikita Khrushchev. During his rule, the economy of the USSR stagnated, while any major attempt to reform the communist system was met with fierce resistance.
Because of his Marxist-Leninist views, many of the laws initiated by Brezhnev also had the goal of strengthening the Soviet State.
In international relations, the Soviet Union under Brezhnev continued the arms race while avoiding any major proxy conflicts against the West.
In this article we will take a look at 50 Leonid Brezhnev quotes that provide some insights into the leadership and legacy of the Soviet Leader.
50 Leonid Brezhnev quotes
1. “Whatever else may divide us, Europe is our common home; a common fate has linked us through the centuries, and it continues to link us today.” – Leonid Brezhnev
2. “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.” – Leonid Brezhnev
3. “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
4. “One sits the whole day at the desk and appetite is standing next to me. ‘Away with you’, I say. But Comrade Appetite does not budge from the spot.” – Leonid Brezhnev
5. “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
6. “The highest peace is the peace between opposites.” – Leonid Brezhnev
7. “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
8. “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
9. “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
10. “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 inseperable barrier to the development of such a weapon.” – Leonid Brezhnev
11. “We should not pour muck on ourselves.” – Leonid Brezhnev
12. “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
13. “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
14. “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
15. “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
16. “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
17. “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
18. “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
19. “Believe me, after the destruction of Chinese nuclear sites by our missiles, there won’t be much time for the Americans to choose between the defense of their Chinese allies and peaceful co-existence with us.” – Leonid Brezhnev
20. “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
21. “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
22. “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
23. “We Communists have to string along with the capitalists for a while. We need their agriculture and their technology.” – Leonid Brezhnev
24. “God will not forgive us if we fail.” – Leonid Brezhnev
25. “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
26. “Soviet people are better off materially and richer spiritually.” – Leonid Brezhnev
27. “Our permanent aim is to stop preparations for war and achieve lasting peace. We hold out the hand of
friendship to all those who are ready to work for peace.” – Leonid Brezhnev
28. “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
29. “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
30. “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.” – Leonid Brezhnev
31. “We bow our heads in respect for those Soviet women who displayed exceptional courage in the severe time of war.” – Leonid Brezhnev
32. “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
33. “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
34. “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
35. “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
36. “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
37. “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
38. “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
39. “There is nothing more practical than a good theory.” – Leonid Brezhnev
40. “It is madness for any country to build its policy with an eye to nuclear war.” – Leonid Brezhnev
41. “My own perception of life was shaped largely by factory life, by the thoughts and aspirations of the workingman, by his approach to life. The lessons of those years have never been forgotten.” – Leonid Brezhnev
42. “As far as I know, many people in the West do not have a clear idea about our political system.” – Leonid Brezhnev
43. “The leading and guiding force of Soviet society and the nucleus of its political system, of all state organizations and public organizations, is the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU exists for the people and serves the people” – Leonid Brezhnev
44.“In a developed socialist society, a socialist state of the whole people, the leading role is played by the working class.” – Leonid Brezhnev
45.“Now we know not only from theory but from years of practice that just as real democracy is
impossible without socialism, so is socialism impossible without the constant development of democracy.” – Leonid Brezhnev
46.“Building up a new society without science is simply inconceivable.” – Leonid Brezhnev
47.“I emphasize, a peace that is just, a peace that is democratic, that is, a peace based on respect for the
rights and interests of all peoples. And in the years since the great October Revolution, we have always steadily and consistently worked to bring about the triumph of just such a peace in the world.” – Leonid Brezhnev
48.“Détente became possible because a new correlation of forces in the world arena has been established. Now the leaders of the bourgeois world can no longer seriously count on resolving the historic conflict between capitalism and socialism by force.” – Leonid Brezhnev
49.“Charm can take you a long way in politics.” – Leonid Brezhnev
50.“I genuinely want peace and will never back down. Some people, however, dislike this policy.” – Leonid Brezhnev