Zitate von Fidel Castro

„Verurteilt mich; das hat nichts zu bedeuten; die Geschichte wird mich freisprechen.“

—  Fidel Castro

Das Schlusswort im Moncada-Prozess im Oktober 1953 Fidel Castro Archiv http://fidelcastroarchiv.blogspot.com/2007/08/die-geschichte-wird-mich-freisprechen.html

„Ich sterbe fast jeden Tag. Das macht mir viel Spaß und ich fühle mich dadurch nur gesünder.“

—  Fidel Castro

zu den ständigen Gerüchten über seinen Tod, Rheinische Post, 22. Juli 2006, S. 1

„Ideen brauchen keine Waffen, wenn sie die großen Massen überzeugen können.“

—  Fidel Castro

aus einer Rede vom 3. August 1985, cuba.cu http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1985/esp/f030885e.html
Original span.: "Las ideas no necesitan ni de las armas, en la medida en que sean capaces de conquistar a las grandes masas."

„Ich glaube weiterhin fest daran, dass eine bessere Welt möglich ist.“

—  Fidel Castro

aus einer Botschaft an das mexikanische Volk am 26. Mai 2004, kuba-info.org http://www.kuba-info.org/53763398630d33804/500159950f0a5ac12/index.html

„Wenn dieser Krieg zu Ende ist, beginnt für mich ein viel längerer und größerer Krieg: der, den ich gegen sie [die Amerikaner] führen werde. Ich sehe, dass darin meine wahre Bestimmung liegt.“

—  Fidel Castro

aus einem Brief an seine Vertraute Celia Sánchez vom 5. Juni 1958 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qFBGyY-0KLU/SEgAKMT9MVI/AAAAAAAABS8/H6RtT6TGh0g/s1600/Fidel%27s+letter+to+Celia+Sanchez+-+June+5+1958.jpg, während der von den USA unterstützten Großoffensive des Batista-Regimes gegen die Rebellenarmee; zitiert nach Norberto Fuentes, Die Autobiographie des Fidel Castro, C.H.Beck 2006. S. 436/437 Aus dem Spanischen von Thomas Schultz
Original span.: "Cuando esta guerra se acabe, empezará para mi una guerra mucho más larga y grande: la guerra que voy a echar contra ellos. Me doy cuenta que ese va a ser mi destino verdadero."

„Meine elementare Pflicht ist es nicht, mich an die Ämter zu klammern, und noch viel weniger möchte ich den Jüngeren den Weg versperren. Meine Aufgabe ist es vielmehr, Erfahrungen und Ideen beizutragen, deren bescheidener Wert aus einer außerordentlichen Epoche stammen, in der ich gelebt habe.“

—  Fidel Castro

www.stern.de http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/:Kuba-Castro/605541.html, »Fidel Castro verabschiedet sich von der Macht«, Artikel vom 18. Dezember 2007

„Ich wage zu sagen, dass diese Art heute einer sehr realen und wahren Gefahr des Aussterbens ausgesetzt ist, und niemand kann sicher sein, dass sie diese Gefahr überleben wird.“

—  Fidel Castro

„Durch ihre Beihilfe zu den Verbrechen und Aggressionen der Vereinigten Staaten gegen Kuba, […], ist es die Europäische Union nicht wert, von unserem Volk ernst genommen zu werden.“

—  Fidel Castro

aus einer Botschaft an das mexikanische Volk am 26. Mai 2004, kuba-info.org http://www.kuba-info.org/53763398630d33804/500159950f0a5ac12/index.html

„Sie sagen, ich habe diese und jene Krankheit. Jetzt haben sie erfunden, dass ich an Parkinson erkrankt bin. Wenn ich einmal wirklich sterbe, wird mir keiner glauben.“

—  Fidel Castro

in einer Rede zu Studenten über den US-Geheimdienst, November 2005, focus.de http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/castro-beteuert-fuenf-stunden_aid_101523.html

„Über das Konzentrationslager auf dem illegalen Militärstützpunkt Guantánamo wagten sie nicht, in Genf auch nur ein Wort zu sagen.“

—  Fidel Castro

aus einer Botschaft an das mexikanische Volk am 26. Mai 2004, cuba-si.de http://www.cuba-si.de/kuba-direkt/reden-fidel/2004/rede-00-05-2004.html

„Man is born egotistical, a result of the conditioning of nature. Nature fills us with instincts; it is education that fills us with virtues.“

—  Fidel Castro

University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: Man is born egotistical, a result of the conditioning of nature. Nature fills us with instincts; it is education that fills us with virtues. Nature makes us do things instinctively; one of these is the instinct for survival which can lead to infamy, while on the other side, our conscience can lead us to great acts of heroism. It doesn’t matter what each one of us is like, how different we are from each other, but when we unite we become one.
It is amazing that in spite of the differences between human beings, they can become as one in a single instant or they can be millions, and they can be a million strong just through their ideas. Nobody followed the Revolution as a cult to anyone or because they felt personal sympathy with any one person. It is only by embracing certain values and ideas that an entire people can develop the same willingness to make sacrifices of any one of those who loyally and sincerely try to lead them toward their destiny.

„You have the opportunity to be more than spectators, you can be actors in the revolution, writing about it, expressing yourselves about it. And the generations to come, what will they ask of you? You might produce magnificent artistic works from a technical point of view, but if you were to tell someone from the future generation, 100 years from bow, that a writer, an intellectual, lived in the era of the revolution and did not write about the revolution, and was not a part of the revolution, it would be difficult for a person in the future to understand this. In the years to come there will be so many people who will want to paint about the revolution, to write about the the revolution, to express themselves on the revolution, compiling data an information in order to know what it was like, what happened, how we used to live.“

—  Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro Reader, pp. 238
Words to Intellectuals (1961)

„After a week, I decided religion wasn't for me.“

—  Fidel Castro

As quoted in The Atheist's Bible (2007) edited by Joan Konner, p. 62
Kontext: When I was a young boy, my father taught me that to be a good Catholic, I had to confess at church if I ever had impure thoughts about a girl. That very evening, I had to rush to confess my sin. And the next night, and the next. After a week, I decided religion wasn't for me.

„I would dare say that today this species is facing a very real and true danger of extinction, and no one can be sure, listen to this well, no one can be sure that it will survive this danger.“

—  Fidel Castro

University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: I would dare say that today this species is facing a very real and true danger of extinction, and no one can be sure, listen to this well, no one can be sure that it will survive this danger.
Well, the fact that the species would not survive was discussed about 2,000 years ago. I remember that when I was a student I heard of the Apocalypse, a book of prophesy in the Bible. Apparently, 2000 years ago someone realized that this weak species could one day disappear.

„It is amazing that in spite of the differences between human beings, they can become as one in a single instant or they can be millions, and they can be a million strong just through their ideas.“

—  Fidel Castro

University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: Man is born egotistical, a result of the conditioning of nature. Nature fills us with instincts; it is education that fills us with virtues. Nature makes us do things instinctively; one of these is the instinct for survival which can lead to infamy, while on the other side, our conscience can lead us to great acts of heroism. It doesn’t matter what each one of us is like, how different we are from each other, but when we unite we become one.
It is amazing that in spite of the differences between human beings, they can become as one in a single instant or they can be millions, and they can be a million strong just through their ideas. Nobody followed the Revolution as a cult to anyone or because they felt personal sympathy with any one person. It is only by embracing certain values and ideas that an entire people can develop the same willingness to make sacrifices of any one of those who loyally and sincerely try to lead them toward their destiny.

„Revolution is the sense of the historical moment; it is changing everything that must be changed“

—  Fidel Castro

As quoted in Speech by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the mass rally called by the Cuban youths, students and workers on the occasion of the International Labor Day at the Revolution Square http://www.fidelcastro.cu/en/discursos/speech-mass-rally-called-cuban-youths-students-and-workers-revolution-square-occasion (May 1, 2000)
Kontext: Revolution is the sense of the historical moment; it is changing everything that must be changed; it is full equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating ourselves, by ourselves and with our very own efforts; it is challenging the dominant powerful forces within and outside of the social and national arena; it is defending the values one believes in at the cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism; it is fighting with audacity, intelligence and realism; it is never telling a lie or violating ethical principles; it is the profound conviction that there is no force on earth that can crush truth and ideas. Revolution is unity, it is independence, it is fighting for our dreams of justice for Cuba and the world that is the basis of our patriotism, our socialism and our internationalism.

„Capitalism—and I say it with such gusto—capitalism is so obsolete that it is dying by itself.“

—  Fidel Castro

Comments on Latin American Debt (15 September 1985) http://info.lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro/1985/19850915
Kontext: Let us yield a bit. Let us grant socialism a few more years. Socialism is so obsolete, it is dying by itself.… Did I say socialism? I assure you on my honor this was not a mental slip. This was a slip of the tongue. Do not forget that. Capitalism—and I say it with such gusto—capitalism is so obsolete that it is dying by itself.

„All sense of dialectics is lost when someone believes that today’s economy is identical to the economy 50 or 100 or 150 years ago, or that it is identical to the one in Lenin’s day or to the time when Karl Marx lived.“

—  Fidel Castro

University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: All sense of dialectics is lost when someone believes that today’s economy is identical to the economy 50 or 100 or 150 years ago, or that it is identical to the one in Lenin’s day or to the time when Karl Marx lived. Revisionism is a thousand miles away from my mind and I truly revere Marx, Engels and Lenin.

„The important thing is the revolution!“

—  Fidel Castro

Speech at the memorial service http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1967/esp/f181067e.html of Che Guevara (8 October 1967)
Kontext: Warfare is a means and not an end. Warfare is a tool of revolutionaries. The important thing is the revolution! The important thing is the revolutionary cause, revolutionary ideas, revolutionary objectives, revolutionary sentiments, revolutionary virtues!