His (Lenin's)humanitarianism was a very abstract passion. It embraced humanity in general but he seems to have had little love for, or even interest in, humanity in particular. He saw the people with whom he dealt, his comrades, not as individuals but as receptacles for his ideas. On that basis, and no other, they were judged. He judged man not by their moral qualities but by their views, or rather the degree to which they accepted his. Paul Johnson
About This Quote

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, was one of the most important revolutionary leaders of the 20th century. He is often credited with being the founding father of the Soviet Union, although this is somewhat disputed. He was a harsh leader who forced his people to follow his strict rules. The quote above refers to him as a person who did not care about people as individuals but only cared about their ideas. He would not have allowed the same ideas to actually be implemented in his own country because he thought they were wrong.

Source: Modern Times

Some Similar Quotes
  1. Abuse manipulates and twists a child’s natural sense of trust and love. Her innocent feelings are belittled or mocked and she learns to ignore her feelings. She can’t afford to feel the full range of feelings in her body while she’s being abused–pain, outrage, hate,... - Unknown
  2. She loved him. But he didn’t know how to love. He could talk about love. He could see love and feel love. <span style="margin:15px; display:block"></span>But he couldn’t give love. He could make love. But he couldn’t make promises. <span style="margin:15px; display:block"></span>She had desperately wanted his... - G.G. Renee Hill
  3. There's a huge swath of humanity that has developed verbal abilities to extract resources from guilt-ridden people. They used to be priests, and now they're leftists. - Stefan Molyneux
  4. Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous. - Frank Herbert
  5. We live in a world where unfortunately the distinction between true and false appears to become increasingly blurred by manipulation of facts, by exploitation of uncritical minds, and by the pollution of the language. - Arne Tiselius
More Quotes By Paul Johnson
  1. A Stalin functionary admitted, "Innocent people were arrested: naturally - otherwise no one would be frightened. If people, he said, were arrested only for specific misdemeanours, all the others would feel safe and so become ripe for treason.
  2. His (Lenin's)humanitarianism was a very abstract passion. It embraced humanity in general but he seems to have had little love for, or even interest in, humanity in particular. He saw the people with whom he dealt, his comrades, not as individuals but as receptacles for...
  3. In 1924 Mao took a Chinese friend, newly arrived from Europe, to see the notorious sign in the Shanghai park, 'Chinese and Dogs Not Allowed'.
  4. Most people are resistant to ideas, especially new ones. But they are fascinated by character. Extravagance of personality is one way in which the pill can be sugared and the public induced to look at works dealing with ideas.
  5. Marx wrote about finance and industry all his life but he only knew two people connected with financial and industrial processes. One was his uncle in Holland, Lion Philips, a successful businessman who created what eventually became the vast Philips Electric Company. Uncle Philips' views...
Related Topics