Trotsky

Check it out, this is my favourite passage from Trotsky. It’s in the final paragraph of “Their Morals and Ours”:

In these immense events the “Trotskyists” learned the rhythm of history, that is, the dialectics of the class struggle. They also learned, it seems, and to a certain degree successfully, how to subordinate their subjective plans and programs to this objective rhythm. They learned not to fall into despair over the fact that the laws of history do not depend on their individual tastes and are not subordinated to their own moral criteria. They learned to subordinate their individual desires to the laws of history. They learned not to become frightened by the most powerful enemies if their power is in contradiction to the needs of historical development. They know how to swim against the stream in the deep conviction that the coming historical flood will carry them to the other shore. Not all will reach that shore, many will drown. But to participate in this movement with open eyes and an intense will – only this can give the highest moral satisfaction to a thinking being!