Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (1907-01-01 [ O.S. 1906-12-19 ] – 1982-11-10) was the effective ruler of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, at first in partnership with others. Brezhnev was made deputy head of political administration for the Southern Front, with the rank of Brigade-Commissar. In August 1946, Brezhnev left the Red Army with the rank of Major General. He had spent the entire war as a commissar rather than a military commander. He was later General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, and was twice Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state), from 1960 to 1964 and from 1977 to 1982. He died of a heart attack on November 10, 1982. During his later career, as Brezhnev's health deteriorated, so did his intellectual capabilities. His long speeches would contain spoonerisms, errors etc. and were a subject of mockery amongst Soviet citizens.

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• There is nothing more practical than a good theory.
  • Quoted in "A Dictionary of Scientific Quotations" - by Alan Lindsay Mackay - Science - 1991

• Every man must be made to realize that further retreat is impossible. He must realize with his mind and heart that this is a matter of life and death of the Soviet state, of the life and death of the people of our country...the Nazi troops must be stopped now, before it is too late.
  • Quoted in "For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War" - Page 237 - by Melvyn P. Leffler - History - 2007

• The most important thing in my life, its leitmotif, has been the constant and close contacts with working people, with workers and peasants.
  • Quoted in "Sputnik: Digest" - Page 48 - 1967

• As you know, I am not a writer but a Party functionary. But like every Communist I consider myself to have been mobilized by Party propaganda and deem it my duty to participate actively in the work of our press.
  • Quoted in "Reprints from the Soviet Press" - Page 5 - Soviet Union - 1977

• I shall add that only he who has decided to commit suicide can start a nuclear war in the hope of emerging a victor from it. No matter what the attacker might possess, no matter what method of unleashing nuclear war he chooses, he will not attain his aims. Retribution will inevitably ensue.
  • Quoted in "Soviet Strategy and the New Military Thinking" - Page 68 - by Derek Leebaert, Timothy Dickinson - History - 1992

• Soviet people are better off materially and richer spiritually.
  • Quoted in "Our Friends Speak: Greetings to the 25th CPSU Congress" - Page 268 - Communism - 1976

• Modern science and technology have reached a level where there is the grave danger that a weapon even more terrible than nuclear weapons may be developed. The reason and conscience of mankind dictate the need to erect an insuperable barrier barrier to the development of such a weapon.
  • Quoted in "Nuclear Disarmament" - by Aleksandr Efremovich Efremov - Nuclear disarmament - 1979

• It is madness for any country to build its policy with an eye to nuclear war.
  • Quoted in "Indefensible weapons: the political and psychological case against nuclearism" - Page 224 - by Robert Jay Lifton, Richard A. Falk - History - 1982

• The rout of fascism, in which the Soviet Union played the decisive role, generated a mighty tide of socio-political changes which swept across the globe.
  • Quoted in "Selected Speeches and Writings" - by Mikhail Andreevich Suslov - Political Science - 1980

• We are entirely for the idea that Europe shall be free from nuclear weapons, from medium-range weapons as well as tactical weapons. That would be a real zero option.
  • Quoted in "Nuclear War: The Search for Solutions" - by Leonard V. Johnson, Helen Caldicott, Thomas L. Perry, Dianne DeMille - History - 1985

• Of late, attempts have been made in the USA—at a high level and in a rather cynical form—to play the "Chinese card" against the USSR. This is a shortsighted and dangerous policy.
  • Quoted in "Peace, Détente, and Soviet-American Relations: A Collection of Public Statements" - Page 222 - by Leonid Ilʹich Brezhnev - Political Science - 1979

• Detente is a readiness to resolve differences and conflicts not by force, not by threats and sabre-rattling, but by peaceful means, at the conference table.
  • Quoted in "Brezhnev Reconsidered" - Page 99 - by Edwin Bacon, Mark Sandle - History - 2002

• We stand for the dismantling of foreign military bases. We stand for a reduction of armed forces and armaments in areas where military confrontation is especially dangerous, above all in central Europe.
  • Quoted in "Voices of Tomorrow: The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" - Page 30 - by Jessica Smith - Political Science - 1971

• We bow our heads in respect for those Soviet women who displayed exceptional courage in the severe time of war. Never before but during the days of the war the grandeur of spirit and the invincible will of our Soviet women, their selfless dedication, loyalty and affection to their Homeland, their boundless persistence in work and their heroism on the front manifested themselves with such strength.
  • Quoted in "V karǐni zdiǐsnenoǐ mriǐ" - Page 54 - by IE IU Kastelli - 1979

• The trouble with free elections is, you never know who is going to win.
  • Quoted in "Brewer's Famous Quotations: 5000 Quotations and the Stories Behind Them" - Page 441 - by Nigel Rees - 2006

• God will not forgive us if we fail.
  • Quoted in "Understanding the Cold War: A Historian's Personal Reflections" - Page 269 - by Adam Bruno Ulam, Paul Hollander - History - 2002

• Whatever else may divide us, Europe is our common home; a common fate has linked us through the centuries, and it continues to link us today.
  • Quoted in "The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations" - Page 289 - by Robert Andrews - 1993

• One sits the whole day at the desk and appetite is standing next to me. "Away with you," I say. But Comrade Appetite does not budge from the spot.
  • Quoted in "Simpson's contemporary quotations: The Most Notable Quotes Since 1950" - by James Beasley Simpson