Totalitarian Regimes Quotes

• There is an absolutely fundamental hostility on the part of totalitarian regimes toward religion.

  Jeane Kirkpatrick

  Fundamentals, Regimes, Hostility

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• The real point is that totalitarian regimes have claimed jurisdiction over the whole person, and the whole society, and they don't at all believe that we should give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's.

  Jeane Kirkpatrick

  Real, Believe, Giving

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• Advances in the technology of communications have proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes: Fax machines enable dissidents to bypass state-controlled print media; direct-dial telephone makes it difficult for a state to control interpersonal voice communication; and satellite broadcasting makes it possible for information-hungry residents of many closed societies to bypass state-controlled television channels.

  Rupert Murdoch

  Technology, Regimes, Threat

  "Murdoch and China". www.theguardian.com. August 24, 2003.

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• There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets our norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.

  Eric Hoffer

  Years, Effort, Individuality

  Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

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• The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it.

  Adolf Hitler

  Fear, Political, Mein Kampf

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.

  Michael Pollan

  Environment, Grass, Lawns

  Michael Pollan (2007). “Second Nature: A Gardener's Education”, p.48, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state...

  Noam Chomsky

  Media, Political, Democracy

  "On Propaganda". WBAI Interview, chomsky.info. January 1992.

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• The individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.

  Eric Hoffer

  Effort, Individuality, Literature

  Eric Hoffer (1963). “The Ordeal of Change”

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• Only the freedom of mind can prevent the state from becoming totalitarian and from issuing totalitarian demands.

  Friedrich Durrenmatt

  Mind, Demand, Becoming

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• Perfection spawns doctrines, dictators and totalitarian ideas.

  Antonio Tabucchi

  Ideas, Perfection, Doctrine

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• A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.

  Friedrich August von Hayek

  Equality, Government, Liberty

  "Law, Legislation and Liberty" by Friedrich August von Hayek, Vol. 2 : The Mirage of Social Justice, (Ch. 9), 1976.

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• We invaded Iraq to change a totalitarian, despotic regime, and we have been successful there.

  Judd Gregg

  Change, Successful, Iraq

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• Gun control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

  L. Neil Smith

  Gun, Found Dead, Panty Hose

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• The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.

  Eric Hoffer

  Hater, Nature, Angel

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• When the United States aligns with dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, it compromises the basic democratic principles of its foundation - namely, life, liberty and justice for all.

  Benazir Bhutto

  Justice For All, Liberty, Foundation

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• Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic.

  Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

  Freedom, Government, Democracy

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• People tell me, 'Bill, let it go. The Kennedy assassination was years ago. It was just the assassination of a President and the hijacking of our government by a totalitarian regime - who cares? Just let it go.' I say, 'All right then. That whole Jesus thing? Let it go! It was 2,000 years ago! Who cares?'

  Bill Hicks

  Jesus, Government, Years

  "Bill Hicks: Revelations". Documentary, Comedy, 1993.

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• Weak logic, inconsistencies and alienation from the people are common features of authoritarianism. The relentless attempts of totalitarian regimes to prevent free thought and new ideas and the persistent assertion of their own rightness bring on them an intellectual stasis which they project on to the nation at large. Intimidation and propaganda work in a duet of oppression, while the people, lapped in fear and distrust, learn to dissemble and to keep silent.

  Aung San Suu Kyi

  Ideas, People, Intellectual

  "In Quest of Democracy". Essay by Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991.

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• The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want.

  Harry S. Truman

  War, Want, Misery

  The Truman Doctrine, delivered 12 March 1947 before a Joint Session of Congress

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• The great enemy of any totalitarian regime is normalization and trade.

  Robert Scheer

  Enemy, Regimes, Trade

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• If someone thinks I'm a dickhead, fine, listen to someone else's record, then. We're not a totalitarian regime; no one's forced to listen to Coldplay. It's actually quite a compliment if you're something that people can stand against.

  Chris Martin

  Thinking, People, Records

  Interview with Ryan Dombal, pitchfork.com. October 31, 2011.

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• The history of totalitarian regimes is reflected in the evolution and perfection of the instruments of terror and more especially the police.

  Carl Joachim Friedrich

  Perfection, Police, Evolution

  Carl Joachim Friedrich (1972). “The pathology of politics: violence, betrayal, corruption, secrecy, and propaganda”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• More people have been killed by totalitarian regimes, during times of peace, than in all the wars in the world combined.

  John Ringo

  War, People, World

  John Ringo (2013). “There Will be Dragons, Second Edition”, p.109, Baen Publishing Enterprises

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• No democracy is born perfect, and none ever gets to be perfect. Yet democracy is superior to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes because, unlike them, democracy is perfectible.

  Mario Vargas Llosa

  Perfect, Democracy, Regimes

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• The Cuban people still live in constant fear of a brutal totalitarian regime that has demonstrated time and again its utter disregard for basic human dignity. The fight for a free Cuba has gone on for far too long.

  Mitt Romney

  Fighting, Long, People

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