--- title: "3 Marxism Quotes By Masha Gessen" description: "3 Marxism quotes by Masha Gessen. Plus more from Masha Gessen and more Marxism sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/masha-gessen-2322_inner-conflict_marxism-in-the-soviet-union-had-been-boi_1512165.png" --- > [“Marxism in the Soviet Union had been boiled down to the understanding that people—Soviet citizens—were shaped entirely by their society and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/marxism-in-the-soviet-union-had-been-boiled-down-to-the-understanding/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/masha-gessen-2322_inner-conflict_marxism-in-the-soviet-union-had-been-boi_1512165.png) > [“At the time of the October Revolution, the Russian intellectual elite had been both a part and a partner to the European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/at-the-time-of-the-october-revolution-the-russian-intellectual-elite/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d12/masha-gessen-2322_communication_at-the-time-of-the-october-revolution-th_2766816.png) > [“Perestroika was an impossible idea on the face of it. The Party was setting out to employ its structures of command to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/perestroika-was-an-impossible-idea-on-the-face-of-it-the-party-was/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fec/masha-gessen-2322_change_perestroika-was-an-impossible-idea-on-th_3203437.jpg) ## Other authors on Marxism - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-karl-marx-55237.jpg) Karl Marx 14 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/karl-marx/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-mao-zedong-63096.jpg) Mao Zedong 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/mao-zedong/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-rosa-luxemburg-81224.jpg) Rosa Luxemburg 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/rosa-luxemburg/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-vladimir-lenin-94029.jpg) Vladimir Lenin 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/vladimir-lenin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-ernesto-cardenal-33844.jpg) Ernesto Cardenal 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/ernesto-cardenal/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-terry-eagleton-89490.jpg) Terry Eagleton 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/terry-eagleton/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-murray-bookchin-69610.jpg) Murray Bookchin 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/murray-bookchin/) ## More by Masha Gessen > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Where incompetence is prized, it is ever-present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/where-incompetence-is-prized-it-is-ever-present/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Trump, like Putin, has a demonstrably thin skin and short temper when it comes to being criticized by journalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/trump-like-putin-has-a-demonstrably-thin-skin-and-short-temper-when/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [You risk everything if you so much as join a legal protest demonstration in Russia. It raises the stakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/you-risk-everything-if-you-so-much-as-join-a-legal-protest/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Donald Trump creates word salads. And that is awful to language, because we try to parse out what he's saying and try to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/donald-trump-creates-word-salads-and-that-is-awful-to-language/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/it-is-the-first-time-since-1993-that-russians-have-come-out-into-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think Donald Trump was brought to power by Americans. They voted for him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-donald-trump-was-brought-to-power-by-americans-they-voted-for/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [In the 1990s, there was a lot of reform, and there was a lot of forward movement on a lot of fronts in Russia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/in-the-1990s-there-was-a-lot-of-reform-and-there-was-a-lot-of-forward/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/poverty-and-scarcity-are-actually-very-good-for-totalitarian/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think that Putin's strategy has been throwing a lot of money, fairly haphazardly, at a lot of projects aimed at disrupting Western relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-that-putin-s-strategy-has-been-throwing-a-lot-of-money-fairly/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Both Trump and Putin use language primarily to communicate not facts or opinions but power: it's not what the words mean that matters but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/both-trump-and-putin-use-language-primarily-to-communicate-not-facts/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I worked both as a Russian journalist and an American journalist and ran a bunch of magazines in Moscow over the course of about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-worked-both-as-a-russian-journalist-and-an-american-journalist-and/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. They're troublemaking efforts. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-are-russian-efforts-to-disturb-the-fabric/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [For years I was the only publicly out gay person who was not a full-time gay activist: my position as a quasi-foreigner gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/for-years-i-was-the-only-publicly-out-gay-person-who-was-not-a-full/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxism/masha-gessen/#itemlist", "name": "3 Marxism Quotes By Masha Gessen", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Marxism in the Soviet Union had been boiled down to the understanding that people—Soviet citizens—were shaped entirely by their society and the material conditions of their lives. 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