For me, a few come to mind:
- “You’re imagining everybody in this story way more attractive than they actually were.”
It was posted somewhere on one of those spicy subreddits under some affair threesome story. And it sort if clicked with me. Like look around, normal people on the street don’t all look like supermodels. And supermodels don’t lurk around in reddit comment sections. It really put things into perspective for me.
- “Life isn’t short, it’s the longest thing you’ll ever do.”
It is a bit uplifting to realize that no matter if you have bad or good period in your life, it is only a short chapter contained in the longest time period possible for you to experience.
There were a few others that I probably can’t remember of the top of my head right now.
I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.
Yes, I know Mother Theresa isn’t well liked, and for good reason, but I like this quote. It shows you how framing your words and actions can impact how they are perceived by others. It makes you think.
Hope is not a strategy.
It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
“The purpose of discipline is to live more fully, not less”
Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.
Cynical is a word used by the frightened to describe the realistic.
“Growing hurts… but it’s always worth the pain.”
-My sister
Actually this one and I just saw it on Lemmy too. As a life long Trek fan I have this quote in my head quite often.
I love the French saying “C’est la vie”.
Shuts down a lot of people nagging.
The only peace you will find at the top of a mountain is the peace you bring there with yourself.
Maya Angelou: “Do your best until you know better, then do better”
Your dog might not be your entire life, but you are the entire life of your dog
Thats a good one, also along the lines “In our dogs eyes we are the immortal elves.”
Yeah, that’s a good one too.
Every time I think about how important we are to them and how loyal they are, I end up thinking about the “Jurrasic Bark” episode in Futurama 😭
Lol F you, I’m not clicking on that 😢
That is exactly the same for your kids, it is not until their world expands a bit when they are 3-5YO; before that you are literally everything to them.
No one can change everything but everyone can change something.
the ironic thing about common sense is that it is not that common.
Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle.
-Vladimir Lenin
Very applicable today, there’s no better time than the present to read theory and get organized. If anyone wants, I can post a short introductory reading list on Marxism.
Thank you. Been thinking about finding good leftist quotes to as my phone wallpaper. Are there more, shorter quotes?
I’m curious about the intro reading list. I’ve tried the manifesto and listened to some audiobooks by Dessalines. Are there newer articles that are recommended, that summarise/improve the pre-existing content? Especially ones that talk about how the things were/are to be applied.
Lenin is a huge yapper, he has tons of fantastic quotes. Another good one is “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
“Without Revolutionary theory, there can be no Revolutionary Movement.”
- Vladimir Lenin, What is to be Done?
It’s time to read theory, comrades! As Lenin says, “Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle.” Marxism-Leninism is broken into 3 major components, as noted by Lenin in his pamphlet The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism:
-
Dialectical and Historical Materialism
-
Critique of Capitalism along the lines of Marx’s Law of Value
-
Advocacy for Revolutionary Socialism
And as such, I recommend, in order:
Section I: Getting Started
- Friedrich Engels’ Principles of Communism
The go-to FAQ of Communism. Quick to read, and easy to reference if you ever want to clear up a misconception you see or have.
- Michael Parenti’s Blackshirts and Reds
Breaks down fascism and its mortal enemy, communism, and their antagonistic relationship. Understanding what fascism is, where and when it rises, why it appears, and how to banish it forever is critical. It also helps debunk common anti-Communist myths, from both the “left” and the right.
Section II: Historical and Dialectical Materialism
- Georges Politzer’s Elementary Principles of Philosophy
By far my favorite primer on Marxist philosophy. By understanding DiaMat first, you make it easier to understand the rest of Marxism. Marxist states have historically taught Dialectical and Historical Materialism before Political Economy for that very reason.
- Friedrich Engels’ Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
Further reading on DiaMat, but crucially introduces the why of Scientific Socialism, essentially explaining how Capitalism itself preps the conditions for public ownership and planning by centralizing itself into monopolist syndicates.
Section III: Political Economy
- Karl Marx’s Wage Labor and Capital as well as Wages, Price and Profit
Best taken as a pair, these essays simplify the most important parts of the Law of Value.
- Vladimir Lenin’s Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism
Absolutely crucial and the most important work for understanding the modern era and its primary contradictions.
Section IV: Revolutionary Socialism
- Rosa Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution
If Marxists believed reforming Capitalist society was possible, we would be the first in line for it. Sadly, it isn’t possible, which Luxemburg proves in this monumental writing.
- Vladimir Lenin’s The State and Revolution
Excellent refutation of revisionists and Social Democrats who think the State can be reformed, and not replaced.
Section V: Intersectionality and Solidarity
- Vikky Storm and Eme Flores’ The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto
Critical reading on understanding misogny, transphobia, and homophobia, as well as how to move beyond. Uses the foundations built up in the previous works to analyze gender theory from a Historical Materialist perspective.
- Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth
Decolonialism is essential to Marxism. Without having a strong, decolonial, internationalist stance, we have no path to victory nor a path to justice.
Section VI: Putting it into Practice!
- Mao Zedong’s On Practice and On Contradiction
Mao wrote simply and directly, targeting peasant soldiers during the Revolutionary War in China. This pair of essays equip the reader with the ability to apply the analytical tools of Dialectical Materialism to their every day practice, and better understand problems.
After reading all of this, whoever has completed these works should have a good grasp of the basics of Marxism-Leninism and be equipped to do their own Marxist-Leninist analysis, though tons of excellent works were dropped for the sake of limiting the scope to an intro reading list.
“Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent.”
- Mao Zedong
For your specific question regarding modern, easier to get into theory, I really love this person’s essays on Marxism. They are more advanced, but focus on modern Marxist analysis. I think Why Do Marxists Fail to Bring the “Worker’s Paradise?”, Socialism Developed China, Not Capitalism, and Why Public Property? are 3 of the best modern essays and primers on Socialism. The first goes over the Materialist theory of Democratic Structures and how they can be built while critically analyzing AES through an AES-positive viewpoint, the second goes over misconceptions about the PRC, and the last helps explain why Marxists advocate for public ownership and central planning, and why Capitalism makes way for this through decentralized markets coalescing into monopolist syndicates.
Let me know if you have any questions!
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
-Tom Waits !
"How active you are in middle-age determines how active you will be able to be in old age. And that applies to any given decade of one’s life.
Meanwhile, on Lemmy, we got people whining about sore backs and knees once they turn 30.
Work with elderly. Use it or lose it.
Amount of people who struggle to walk because they got in a wheelchair at some point is fucking high
Sometimes life’s a bitch and you keep on living.
