Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers from 1976 to 2008. Profoundly inspirational Fidel Castro quotes will challenge the way you think, change the way you live and transform your whole life.
Famous Fidel Castro Quotes
Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.
In one of Castro’s very last public appearances, Castro acknowledged his own passing might be near, but he had faith his communist revolution would live on. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof that on this planet, if one works with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need and that need to be fought for without ever giving up.
We will win this battle for life, and not only for your lives, but also for the lives of all children in the world.
Instead of fighting racial prejudice, which is what a revolution does, fascism exalts prejudice and turns it into hatred
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.
The capitalist system of production, once it had given all it was capable of giving, became an abysmal obstacle to the progress of humanity
I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition
They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?
I am not a communist and neither is the revolutionary movement.
I am not a dictator, and I do not think I will become one. I will not maintain power with a machine gun
A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.
Power does not interest me. After victory I want to go back to my village and just be a lawyer again
There is not Communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a well planned economy.
Che brought the ideas of Marxism Leninism to their freshest, purest, most revolutionary expression
I began a 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.
Marxism Leninism is ultimately deeply internationalist and, at the same time, deeply patriotic
North Americans don’t understand that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity.
Men do not shape destiny. Destiny produces the man for the hour
Someday, the capitalist system will disappear in the United States, because no social class system has been eternal. One day, class societies will disappear.
Nothing in the world is irreversible, not even capitalism
I can assure you that my first and foremost interest is my country.
Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me
I think that a man should not live beyond the age when he begins to deteriorate, when the flame that lighted the brightest moment of his life has weakened.
I decided religion wasn’t for me
There is not Communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a well planned economy. Fidel Castro
Revolutions are not exported, they are made by the people
For revolutionary Cubans, to cooperate with other poor and exploited peoples has always been a political principle and a duty towards humanity. Fidel Castro
I don’t think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews
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
I’m not thinking of cutting my beard, because I’m accustomed to my beard and my beard means many things to my country. When we fulfill our promise of good government I will cut my beard. In an interview with CBS, 30 days after the revolution.
All criticism is opposition. All opposition is counter revolutionary. Fidel Castro
We have to stick to the facts and, simply put, the socialist camp has collapsed. Castro in 1991.
I will never retire from politics, the revolution, or the ideas I have. Fidel Castro
Soon I’ll end up like all the rest. Everyone’s turn comes.
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
Fidel Castro was legendary for his fiery marathon speeches, a hallmark of his iron fisted rule and tireless defiance of American imperialism.
More than 820 million people in the world suffer from hunger; and 790 million of them live in the Third World. Fidel Castro
Castro kicked off his revolutionary career with a botched attack on the Moncada military barracks in 1953, utterly failing in his bid to kindle an uprising against dictator Fulgencio Batista.
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
It was an inauspicious start for a man who would go on to become one of history’s most famous revolutionaries.
We must establish a new world order based on justice, on equity, and on peace. Fidel Castro
But defending himself at his trial, the trained lawyer put a brave face on it with an iconic speech.
We are not politicians. We made our revolution to get the politicians out. Fidel Castro
Condemn me, it does not matter, he said.
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
Returning from exile to lead what this time would be a successful revolution against Batista, Castro predicted the US backed dictator’s downfall would be just the beginning.
For revolutionary Cubans, to cooperate with other poor and exploited people has always been a political principle and a duty towards humanity. Fidel Castro
That will be my true destiny, he wrote in a letter to fellow revolutionary and lifelong friend Celia Sanchez from his hideout in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
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
In 1960, the year after he came to power, Castro first uttered what would become one of his trademark rallying cries.
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
He would repeat it myriad times across the decades.
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
In later years, he used a similar slogan loaded with Cold War animosity: Socialism or death!
Humanity can learn from those who have broken their chains. Those who have chained humanity for centuries cannot teach humanity anything. Fidel Castro
Castro stuck to his defiant tone in the Cold War’s most dangerous moment, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
I almost laughed about the Machiavellian plans of the presidents of the United States. Fidel Castro
The imperialists want us to stop being revolutionaries in order to make peace, he said in the aftermath.
I’ve always considered Christ to be one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of humanity. Fidel Castro
We will never stop being revolutionaries. We will never lower our flag.
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
At times, it seemed Castro would rule his island forever.
Every country must be absolutely free to adopt the type of economic, political and social system that it considers convenient. Fidel Castro
Power is slavery, and I am its slave.
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
But he seemed to say goodbye last April at his final Communist Party congress.
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
Soon I’ll end up like all the rest, he said.
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
Everyone’s turn comes.
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
I feel my belief in sacrifice and struggle getting stronger. I despise the kind of existence that clings to the miserly trifles of comfort and self interest. I think that a man should not live beyond the age when he begins to deteriorate, when the flame that lighted the brightest moment of his life has weakened.
Revolutionaries must proclaim their ideas courageously and express their intentions so that no one is deceived. Fidel Castro
The 26th of July Movement is not a tendency within the party, it is the revolutionary apparatus of Chibas’s organization, a grass roots movement, from which it emerged to fight against the dictator, while the Ortodoxo Party was lying helpless and divided. From then on, our revolutionary thesis has been the thesis of our party’s masses; they had expressed their feelings unequivocally, from then on, the masses and the leaders have gone different ways.
It constitutes a superhuman effort to lead any people in times of crisis. Without them, the changes would be impossible. Fidel Castro
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; it is the hope of land for the peasants who live like pariahs in the country whose freedom their grandfathers won; it is the hope of going back home for the emigres who had to leave their country, here they could not live or work, and it is the hope of daily bread for the hungry and of justice for the forgotten.
One of the greatest benefits of the revolution is that even our prostitutes are college graduates. Fidel Castro
I am not a dictator, and I do not think I will become one. I will not maintain power with a machine gun.
If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal. Fidel Castro
Men do not shape destiny. Destiny produces the man for the hour.
I believe Karl Marx could have subscribed to the Sermon on the Mount. Fidel Castro
I am not a communist and neither is the revolutionary movement, but we do not have to say that we are anticommunists just to fawn on foreign powers.
Nothing in the world is irreversible, not even capitalism. Fidel Castro
The first duty of the revolutionaries is to tell the truth. Fooling the people, promoting illusions, always brings the worst consequences, and I believe that the people should be warned against excessive optimism. How did the Red Army win the war? By telling the truth. How did the dictatorship lose the war? By deceiving the soldiers.
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
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.
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
If we had paused to tell the people that we were Marxist Leninists while we were on Pico Turquino and not yet strong, it is possible that we would never have been able to descend to the plains.
We do not need the empire to give us anything. Fidel Castro
We believe that Marxism Leninism is an incontestable truth.
The U.S.S.R. had absolutely nothing to do with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro
Kim Il Sung, one of the most prominent, bright and heroic socialist leaders of the present day, whose history is one of the most beautiful thing a revolutionary may have written in the service of the cause of socialism.
Capitalism is using its money; we socialists throw it away. Fidel Castro
Che brought the ideas of Marxism Leninism to their freshest, purest, most revolutionary expression.
