James P. Cannon

“Sectarianism is the substitution of a dogma for a program.”

“The revolutionary party is the brain of the working class.”

“The serious revolutionary, like the serious scientist, has no room for illusions.”

“A party is not a party if it is not a fighting party.”

“Trotskyism is not a new movement, a new doctrine, but the restoration, the revival of genuine Marxism.”

“The duty of a revolutionary is to tell the truth to the masses.”

“The workers need a party that represents them and them alone.”

“The bureaucracy is the mortal enemy of the revolution.”

“There is no substitute for the party.”

“Pessimism has no place in the revolutionary movement.”

“We must speak to the workers in a language they understand.”

“The program of the party is everything.”

“Our politics are the politics of the class struggle.”

“The art of revolutionary leadership is to know when to advance and when to retreat.”

“Without theory, there is no revolutionary practice.”

“The trade unions are the elementary schools of socialism.”

“The Fourth International is the world party of the socialist revolution.”

“Capitalist society is a society of perpetual war.”

“Stalinism is the syphilis of the labor movement.”

“The first condition for the development of a real revolutionary party is that it should be able to look reality in the face.”