Nikolai Chernyshevsky Quotes
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a Russian revolutionary democrat, materialist philosopher, and novelist and the most influential radical Russian thinker of the 1850s and 1860s. As editor of the journal Sovremennik, he became the leading voice of the new radical intelligentsia, and his novel What Is to Be Done?, written in prison after his arrest in 1862, shaped a generation of Russian revolutionaries, including the young Lenin. The quotes below are attributed to Nikolai Chernyshevsky, organized by topic.
Nikolai Chernyshevsky on Politics
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Attributed to Nikolai Chernyshevsky:
“What is to be done? That is the question of every age.”
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Attributed to Nikolai Chernyshevsky:
“Rational egoism, properly understood, leads to social solidarity.”
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Attributed to Nikolai Chernyshevsky:
“Human nature is malleable; education shapes the citizen.”
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Attributed to Nikolai Chernyshevsky:
“The future belongs to those who work for the people.”
Nikolai Chernyshevsky on Truth
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Attributed to Nikolai Chernyshevsky:
“Thought without action is sterile.”