Leszek Kolakowski Quotes
Leszek Kolakowski was a Polish philosopher and the most influential critic of Marxism from within the Marxist tradition. After early Marxist work that had brought him to a chair at Warsaw, he was expelled from the Polish United Workers' Party in 1966 and from the country in 1968 for his role in the post-Stalinist liberalization. The quotes below are attributed to Leszek Kolakowski, organized by topic.
Browse Leszek Kolakowski by topic
Leszek Kolakowski on Freedom
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Attributed to Leszek Kolakowski:
“The freedom we lose is rarely the freedom we use.”
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“The destructive work of totalitarian machinery, whether or not this word is used, is usually supported by a special kind of primitive social philosophy. It proclaims not only that the common good of ' society ' has priority over the interests of individuals, but that the very existence of individuals as persons is reducible to the existence of the social 'whole'; in other words, personal existence is, in a strange sense, unreal. This is a convenient foundation for any ideology of slavery .”
Totalitarianism and the Virtue of the Lie", as quoted in Is God Happy? Selected Essays (2013), Basic Books, p. 57
Leszek Kolakowski on God
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Attributed to Leszek Kolakowski:
“Religion remains one of the most fundamental of human cultures.”
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“The destructive work of totalitarian machinery, whether or not this word is used, is usually supported by a special kind of primitive social philosophy. It proclaims not only that the common good of ' society ' has priority over the interests of individuals, but that the very existence of individuals as persons is reducible to the existence of the social 'whole'; in other words, personal existence”
Totalitarianism and the Virtue of the Lie", as quoted in Is God Happy? Selected Essays (2013), Basic Books, p. 57 -
“In this sense Marxism performs the function of a religion, and its efficacy is of a religious character. But it is a caricature and a bogus form of religion, since it presents its temporal eschatology as a scientific system, which religious mythologies do not purport to be.”
Main Currents Of Marxism(1978) | Epilogue, p. 1208 -
“"The Revenge of the Sacred in Secular Culture" (1973)”
Wikiquote
Leszek Kolakowski on Justice
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Attributed to Leszek Kolakowski:
“Total justice is total tyranny.”
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“...shall we say that the difference between a vegetarian and a cannibal is just a matter of taste?”
The Idolatry of Politics", New Republic, 1986-June-16, page 31. -
“Communism was not the crazy fantasy of a few fanatics, nor the result of human stupidity and baseness; it was a real, very real part of the history of the twentieth century , and we cannot understand this history of ours without understanding communism. We cannot get rid of this specter by saying it was just “human stupidity,” or “human corruptibility.” The specter is stronger than the spells we cast on it. It might come back to life.”
Introduction to My Correct Views on Everything
Leszek Kolakowski on Knowledge
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“Metaphysical Horror (1988)”
A modern philosopher who has never once suspected himself of being a charlatan must be such a shallow mind that his work is probably not worth reading. -
“We learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are.”
The Idolatry of Politics", U.S. Jefferson Lecture speech (1986) -
“Introduction to My Correct Views on Everything”
Communism was not the crazy fantasy of a few fanatics, nor the result of human stupidity and baseness; it was a real, very real part of the history of the twentieth century , and we cannot understand this history of ours without understanding communism. We cannot get rid of this specter by saying it was just “human stupidity,” or “human corruptibility.” The specter is stronger than the spells we c -
“I do not know what postmodern is and how it differs from the premodern, nor do I feel that I ought to know.”
"Modernity on Endless Trial" (1986)
Leszek Kolakowski on Mind
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“A modern philosopher who has never once suspected himself of being a charlatan must be such a shallow mind that his work is probably not worth reading.”
Metaphysical Horror (1988)
Leszek Kolakowski on Politics
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Attributed to Leszek Kolakowski:
“Marxism is the greatest fantasy of the twentieth century.”
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“The Idolatry of Politics", U.S. Jefferson Lecture speech (1986)”
We learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are. -
“The Idolatry of Politics", New Republic, 1986-June-16, page 31.”
...shall we say that the difference between a vegetarian and a cannibal is just a matter of taste? -
“Marxism was a philosophical or semi-philosophical doctrine and a political ideology which was used by the communist state as the main source of legitimacy and the obligatory faith.”
Main Currents Of Marxism(1978) | New Preface, p. v
Leszek Kolakowski on Time
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Attributed to Leszek Kolakowski:
“Modernity is the culture of permanent self-criticism.”
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“The history of utopias is no less fascinating than the history of metallurgy or of chemical engineering.”
Main Currents Of Marxism(1978) | New Preface, p. vi -
“It seems to us that the past is our property. Well, on the contrary — we are its property, because we are not able to make changes in it, while it fills the whole of our existence.”
Original: "Otóż przeciwnie – to my jesteśmy jej własnością, ponieważ nie jesteśmy w stanie dokonać w niej zmian, ona natomiast wypełnia całość naszego istnienia." Klucz niebieski albo opowieści biblijne zebrane ku pouczeniu i przestrodze -
“The cultural atmosphere of Russia in those years had an adolescent quality, common to all periods of revolution: the belief that life is just beginning, that the future is unlimited, and that mankind is no longer bound by the shackles of history. (pg. 47)”
Three Volume edition