Fidel Castro was a revolutionary and iconic figure in both Cuba and for many other people around the world.
During his revolutionary rule over Cuba, Fidel Castro offered through his speeches countless motivational and inspirational quotes, on various topics, from poverty to the revolutionary movement. These speeches and his actions helped Castro to solidify his image as a brand for the Socialist, anti-imperialist and revolutionary movement Worldwide.
I’ve compiled a list of 103 memorable quotes from Fidel Castro’s most important speeches, writings, and interviews. Some of these quotes are inspirational, and motivational, while others will challenge you to think about the world as it is today.
Fidel Castro quotes list:
1. “The first duty of the revolutionaries is to tell the truth. Fooling the people, promoting illusions, always brings the worst consequences.” – Fidel Castro
2. “There is not Communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a well-planned economy.” – Fidel Castro
3. “For revolutionary Cubans, to cooperate with other poor and exploited peoples has always been a political principle and a duty towards humanity.” – Fidel Castro
4. “If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism.” – Fidel Castro
5. “All criticism is opposition. All opposition is counter-revolutionary.” – Fidel Castro
6. “I will never retire from politics, the revolution, or the ideas I have.” – Fidel Castro
7. “I am not interested in power nor do I envisage assuming it at any time. All that I will do is to make sure that the sacrifices of so many compatriots should not be in vain, whatever the future may hold in store for me.” – Fidel Castro
8. “More than 820 million people in the world suffer from hunger; and 790 million of them live in the Third World.” – Fidel Castro
9. “Ignorance is the root of many ills. Knowledge must be the fundamental ally of nations that aspire, despite all their tragedies and problems, to become truly emancipated, to build a better world.” – Fidel Castro
10. “Defending peace is the duty of all.” – Fidel Castro
11. “We must establish a new world order based on justice, on equity, and on peace.” – Fidel Castro
12. “We are not politicians. We made our revolution to get the politicians out.” – Fidel Castro
13. “You Americans keep saying that Cuba is ninety miles from the United States. I say that the United States is ninety miles from Cuba and for us, that is worse.” – Fidel Castro
14. “For revolutionary Cubans, to cooperate with other poor and exploited people has always been a political principle and a duty towards humanity.” – Fidel Castro
15. “The squandering of oil and gas is associated with one of the greatest tragedies, not in the least resolved, which is suffered by humankind: climate change.” – Fidel Castro
16. “The truth is that after several decades of neoliberalism, the rich are becoming increasingly richer while the poor are both more numerous and increasingly poorer.” – Fidel Castro
17. “The ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the hungry but they cannot kill ignorance, illnesses, poverty or hunger.” – Fidel Castro
18. “Fascism, with its violence, gets rid of everything: it attacks universities, it closes them and crushes them; it attacks intellectuals, represses them and persecutes them; it attacks political parties; it attacks trade union organizations; it attacks all mass and cultural organizations. Therefore, nothing is more violent, more retrograde and more illegal than fascism.” – Fidel Castro
19. “Humanity can learn from those who have broken their chains. Those who have chained humanity for centuries cannot teach humanity anything.” – Fidel Castro
20. “I almost laughed about the Machiavellian plans of the presidents of the United States.” – Fidel Castro
21. “I’ve always considered Christ to be one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of humanity.” – Fidel Castro
22. “This country is heaven, in the spiritual sense of the word. And I say, we prefer to die in heaven than survive in hell.” – Fidel Castro
23. “Every country must be absolutely free to adopt the type of economic, political and social system that it considers convenient.” – Fidel Castro
24. “I do not have the slightest doubt that our people and our revolution will fight to the last drop of blood to defend these and other ideas and measures that are necessary to safeguard this historic process.” – Fidel Castro
25. “The 26th of July Movement is the revolutionary organization of the humble, by the humble, for the humble. The 26th July Movement is the hope of redemption for the Cuban working class, who can hope for nothing from the political cliques” – Fidel Castro
26. “A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” – Fidel Castro
27. “Cuba is not opposed to finding a solution to its historical differences with the United States, but no one should expect Cuba to change its position or yield in its principles. Cuba is and will continue to be socialist. Cuba is and will continue to be a friend of the Soviet Union and of all the socialist states.” – Fidel Castro
28. “Warfare is a means and not an end. Warfare is a tool of revolutionaries. The important thing is the revolution. The important thing is the revolutionary cause, revolutionary ideas, revolutionary objectives, revolutionary sentiments, revolutionary virtues!” – Fidel Castro
29. “Revolutionaries must proclaim their ideas courageously … and express their intentions so that no one is deceived.” – Fidel Castro
30. “Someday, the capitalist system will disappear in the United States, because no social class system has been eternal. One day, class societies will disappear.” – Fidel Castro
31. “It constitutes a superhuman effort to lead any people in times of crisis. Without them, the changes would be impossible.” – Fidel Castro
32. “One of the greatest benefits of the revolution is that even our prostitutes are college graduates.” – Fidel Castro
33. “If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal.” – Fidel Castro
34. “I believe Karl Marx could have subscribed to the Sermon on the Mount.” – Fidel Castro
35. “Nothing in the world is irreversible, not even capitalism.” – Fidel Castro
36. “We will win this battle for life, and not only for your lives, but also for the lives of all children in the world.” – Fidel Castro
37. “I believe Stalin made big mistakes but also showed great wisdom. In my opinion, blaming Stalin for everything that occurred in the Soviet Union would be historical simplism.” – Fidel Castro
38. “We do not need the empire to give us anything.” – Fidel Castro
39. “The U.S.S.R. had absolutely nothing to do with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.” – Fidel Castro
40. “Capitalism is using its money; we socialists throw it away.” – Fidel Castro
41. “Every citizen has the real right to receive general education and professional training at no cost, something that the United States has not been able to ensure for all its inhabitants.” – Fidel Castro
42. “Homeland or death! Socialism or death! We shall overcome!” – Fidel Castro
43. “Why do some people have to go barefoot so that others can drive luxury cars? Why are some people able to live only 35 years in order that others can live 70 years? Why do some people have to be miserably poor in order that others can be extravagantly rich? I speak for all the children in the world who don’t even have a piece of bread.” – Fidel Castro
44. “The people of Egypt are an intelligent people with a glorious history who left their mark on civilization.” – Fidel Castro
45. “Without a tutor to help me in the study of Marxism-Leninism, I was no more than a theorist and, of course, had total confidence in the Soviet Union.” – Fidel Castro
46. “The Soviet Union, the socialist camp, the People’s Republic of China, and North Korea helped us resist, with essential supplies and weapons, the implacable blockade of the United States, the most powerful empire ever to exist.” – Fidel Castro
47. “A large percentage of those living in developed societies are told what brand of soda they should drink, what cigarettes they should smoke, what clothes and shoes they should wear, what they should eat and what brand of food they should buy. Their political ideas are supplied in the same way. Every year a trillion dollars is spent on advertising.” – Fidel Castro
48. “Capitalism has neither the capacity, nor the moral, nor the ethics, nor the will to solve the problems of poverty.” – Fidel Castro
49. Cuba came to be the last country to get rid of Spanish colonialism and the first to shake off the heinous imperialist tutelage. – Fidel Castro
50. “I can assure you that my first and foremost interest is my country.” – Fidel Castro
51. “My idea, as the whole world knows, is that the capitalist system now doesn’t work either for the United States or the world, driving it from crisis to crisis, which are each time more serious.” – Fidel Castro
52. “Cynicism is something which has become symbolic of imperial policy.” – Fidel Castro
53. “At times, I’ve referred to Christ’s miracles, and have said, ‘Well, Christ multiplied the fish and the loaves to feed the people. That is precisely what we want to do with the Revolution and socialism.” – Fidel Castro
54. “I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating… because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.” – Fidel Castro
55. “We need a Nuremberg to put on trial the economic order that they have imposed on us, that every three years kills more men, women and children by hunger and preventable or curable diseases than the death toll in six years of the Second World War.” – Fidel Castro
56. “Oil has become the principal wealth in the hands of the great Yankee transnationals; through this energy source, they had an instrument that considerably expanded their political power in the world.” – Fidel Castro
57. “Experience acquired in the heroic battle against Batista’s tyranny showed that the enemy, no matter what his strength, could not defeat the Cuban people.” – Fidel Castro
58. “I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.” – Fidel Castro
59. “The societies of consumption and squandering of material resources are incompatible with the idea of economic growth and a clean planet.” – Fidel Castro
60. “Christ didn’t choose the rich to preach the doctrine; he choose 12 poor ignorant workers – that is, he chose the proletariat of the times.” – Fidel Castro
61. “I think that I will die with the boots on.” – Fidel Castro
62. “I’m not attached to anything. I’m attached to what it feels it’s my duty, to do my duty.” – Fidel Castro
63. “We have the lowest student-teacher ratio and spend five times as much on schools than war – the opposite of what the United States does.” – Fidel Castro
64. “The revolution has no time for elections. There is no more democratic government in Latin America than the revolutionary government.” – Fidel Castro
65. “Twenty-six million Russians died in the defense of their homeland against the Nazis.” – Fidel Castro
66. “The first thing dictators do is finish free press, to establish censorship. There is no doubt that a free press is the first enemy of dictatorship.” – Fidel Castro
67. “I never saw a contradiction between the ideas that sustain me and the ideas of that symbol, of that extraordinary figure, Jesus Christ.” – Fidel Castro
68. “Quality of life lies in knowledge, in culture. Values are what constitute true quality of life, the supreme quality of life, even above food, shelter and clothing.” – Fidel Castro
69. “The revolution is a dictatorship of the exploited against the exploiters.” – Fidel Castro
70. “If we wish to express what we want the men of future generations to be, we must say: Let them be like Che! If we wish to say how we want our children to be educated, we must say without hesitation: We want them to be educated in Che’s spirit! If we want the model of a man, who does not belong to our times but to the future, I say from the depths of my heart that such a model, without a single stain on his conduct, without a single stain on his action, is Che!” – Fidel Castro
71. “The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.” – Fidel Castro
72. “I have reached the conclusion, a bit late perhaps, that speeches should be short.” – Fidel Castro
73. “Our Revolution emerged where it was least expected by the empire, in a hemisphere where it was used to acting like an all-powerful master.” – Fidel Castro
74. “The unyielding resistance of the Cuban patriots is symbolized by our 5 Heroes. They shall never back down! They shall never surrender!” – Fidel Castro
75. “I was a man who was lucky enough to have discovered a political theory, a man who was caught up in the whirlpool of Cuba’s political crisis…; discovering Marxism…was like finding a map in the forest.” – Fidel Castro
76. “Revolution is the sense of the historical moment; it is changing everything that must be changed.” – Fidel Castro
77. “Today, the entire country is an immense University.” – Fidel Castro
78. “The people respect and believe in men who fulfill their duty.” – Fidel Castro
79. “Sovereignty is not negotiated in exchange for anything; to maintain the achievements of the revolution does not depend on a foreign power.” – Fidel Castro
80. “They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?” – Fidel Castro
81. “NATO’s brutal military alliance has become the most perfidious instrument of repression known in the history of humankind.” – Fidel Castro
82. “Soon, I’ll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain.” – Fidel Castro
83. “Marxism-Leninism is the ideology of the working class, the most complete political doctrine, the most accurate explanation of social and historical problems.” – Fidel Castro
84. “At times, I’ve referred to Christ’s miracles, and have said, ‘Well, Christ multiplied the fish and the loaves to feed the people. That is precisely what we want to do with the Revolution and socialism.” – Fidel Castro
85. “None of us has any personal interest above the interests of the country. Our country is more important than our careers.” – Fidel Castro
86. “Today it hurts us if a Cuban is hungry, if a Cuban has no doctor, if a Cuban child suffers or is uneducated, or if a family has no housing. It hurts us even though it’s not our brother, our son or our father. Why shouldn’t we feel hurt if we see an Angolan child go hungry, suffer, be killed or massacred?” – Fidel Castro
87. “I am a Marxist Leninist and I will be one until the last day of my life.” – Fidel Castro
88. “No thieves, no traitors, no interventionists! This time the revolution is for real!” – Fidel Castro
89. “I have always fought for concrete facts, for justice.” — Fidel Castro
90. “Fellow workers and peasants, this is the socialist and democratic revolution of the working people, with the working people, and for the working people. And for this revolution of the working people, by the working people, and for the working people we are prepared to give our lives.” – Fidel Castro
91. “Ideas do not need weapons.” – Fidel Castro
92. “Repetition is a revolutionary virtue.” – Fidel Castro
93. “To the accusation that Cuba wants to export its revolution, we reply: Revolutions are not exported, they are made by the people.” – Fidel Castro
94. “Nowhere in the world, in no act of genocide, in no war, are so many people killed per minute, per hour and per day as those who are killed by hunger and poverty on our planet.” – Fidel Castro
95. “The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust.” – Fidel Castro
96. “The equal right of all citizens to health, education, work, food, security, culture, science, and wellbeing – that is, the same rights we proclaimed when we began our struggle, in addition to those which emerge from our dreams of justice and equality for all inhabitants of our world – is what I wish for all.” – Fidel Castro
97. “Something must be done to save humanity! A better world is possible!” – Fidel Castro
98. “We are proud of the history of our country; we learned it in school and have grown up hearing of freedom, justice and human rights.” – Fidel Castro
99. “If Mr. Kennedy does not like Socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like Capitalism.” – Fidel Castro
100. “I am not a dictator, and I do not think I will become one. I will not maintain power with a machine gun.” – Fidel Castro
101. “The United States tyrannizes and pillages the globalized world with its political, economic, technological, and military might.” – Fidel Castro
102. “Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.” – Fidel Castro
103. “Fellow workers and peasants, this is the socialist and democratic revolution of the working people, with the working people, and for the working people. And for this revolution of the working people, by the working people, and for the working people we are prepared to give our lives.” – Fidel Castro