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MISQUOTE: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen" (Lenin).
Actual quote (my translation): "Months of revolution sometimes educate citizens more quickly and fully than decades of political stagnation".1/n
CONTEXT of the quote also matters: Preceding and subsequent sentences talk about the "enlightening and organizing force of the revolution", getting "commoners" to become "citizens", and urging revolutionary leaders to educate the masses to reach the "grand final aim"
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It is ironic that a rather clumsy and meaningless sentence from an unabashed tirade in support of revolution got cleaned up and "upcycled" into an easily-quotable meme, ready for sprinkling as a generic nugget of "insight" in any subject or conversation.
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The message of the modified quote may well be right (though it could not be universally true, so is better used to provoke thought - rather like a Zen kōan - than to teach a deep "truth"), but the mis-attribution is unfortunate, as it leaves a fake cultural imprint...
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...by making a historical figure (a revolutionary leader) appear to have deeper and broader insights than what was apparent left by his record (Lenin was not Shakespeare when it came to language, and not Plato or Socrates when it came to philosophy).
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The original quote in Russian: "Месяцы революции скорее и полнее воспитывают иногда граждан, чем десятилетия политического застоя".
Source: "Полное собрание сочинений. Том 10. Март ~ июнь 1905" (Complete works, Vol. 10, March 1905)
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Source: "Полное собрание сочинений. Том 10. Март ~ июнь 1905" (Complete works, Vol. 10, March 1905)
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There's also a variation of the quote in the same text: "Months of revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry will do more than decades of peaceful and stultifying atmosphere of political stagnation" - Even more specific to Lenin's core objectives...
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...and even further in meaning from the general meaning the mis-quote has acquired.
(Original: "Месяцы революционной диктатуры пролетариата и крестьянства сделают больше, чем десятилетия мирной, отупляющей атмосферы политического застоя")
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(Original: "Месяцы революционной диктатуры пролетариата и крестьянства сделают больше, чем десятилетия мирной, отупляющей атмосферы политического застоя")
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