50 Che Guevara Quotes to Ignite Your Revolutionary Spirit

These Che Guevara quotes apply to the world today, even if you don’t agree with his political beliefs.

Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was an influential part of the Cuban Revolution and a skilled guerilla warfare militant. You might wonder who was Che Guevara before he became a revolutionary war hero. Well, he was an excellent athlete and student in his early years. Before becoming a political figure he was a physician.

He traveled around South America where he was exposed to poverty like he had not seen before in his middle-class upbringing. This shaped his views and future political ideology.

So, what did Che Guevara believe in? He adopted a Marxism-Leninism viewpoint and believed that citizens should work for the good of society and not their personal profits. 

These Che Guevara quotes explain why he believed ‘The Revolution’ was important, and how he saw himself. He had many things to say about life and what he felt people should do.

Don’t forget to also check out these freedom quotes on destiny, leadership and independence.

Che Guevara quotes about The Revolution

1. “I don’t care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting.” ― Che Guevara

2. “If you have the capacity to tremble with indignation every time that injustice is committed in the world, then we are comrades.” ― Che Guevara

3. “We have no right to believe that freedom can be won without struggle.” ― Che Guevara

4. “The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day-to-day.” ― Che Guevara

5. “I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves.” ― Che Guevara

6. “Justice remains the tool of a few powerful interests; legal interpretations will continue to be made to suit the convenience of the oppressor powers.” ― Che Guevara

7. “Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply about any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.” ― Che Guevara

8. “I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.” ― Che Guevara

9. “In a revolution, one triumphs or dies.” ― Che Guevara

10. “The ultimate and most important revolutionary aspiration: to see human beings liberated from their alienation.” ― Che Guevara

11. “Passion is needed for any great work, and for the revolution, passion and audacity are required in big doses.” ― Che Guevara

Che Guevara quotes about life

12. “We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.” ― Che Guevara

13. “It’s not my fault if reality is Marxist.” ― Che Guevara

14. “The walls of the educational system must come down. Education should not be a privilege, so the children of those who have money can study.” ― Che Guevara

15. “Live your life not celebrating victories, but overcoming defeats.” ― Che Guevara

16. “I would rather die standing up to live life than die on my knees.” ― Che Guevara

17. “I had a project for my life which involved 10 years of wandering, then some years of medical studies and, if any time was left, the great adventure of physics.” ― Che Guevara

18. “Every person has the truth in his heart. No matter how complicated his circumstances, no matter how others look at him from the outside, and no matter how deep or shallow the truth dwells in his heart, once his heart is pierced with a crystal needle, the truth will gush forth like a geyser.” ― Che Guevara

19. “And then many things became very clear… we learned perfectly that the life of a single human being is worth millions of times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.” ― Che Guevara

20. “You can live by your own rules.” ― Che Guevara

21. “We are overcome by anguish at this illogical moment of humanity.” ― Che Guevara

22. “If I lose, it will not mean that it was impossible to win.” ― Che Guevara

23. “I have a wish. It is a fear as well – that in my end will be my beginning.” ― Che Guevara

Che Guevara quotes about what people should do

24. “Let’s be realistic. Let’s do the impossible!” ― Che Guevara

25. “At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.” ― Che Guevara

26. “Words without deeds are worthless.” ― Che Guevara

27. “Chess is an effective means to educate and train the human intellect.” ― Che Guevara

28. “Youth should learn to think and act as a mass. It is criminal to think as individuals!” ― Che Guevara

29. “The world must not only be interpreted, it must be transformed. Man ceases to be the slave and tool of his environment and converts himself into the architect of his own destiny.” ― Che Guevara

30. “Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature.” ― Che Guevara

31. “Live your life not celebrating victories, but overcoming defeats.” ― Che Guevara

Meaningful Che Guevara quotes 

32. “Every day you have to fight so that love for humanity can be transformed into concrete deeds, into acts that set an example, that mobilize.” ― Che Guevara

33. “Words that do not match deeds are not important.” ― Che Guevara

34. “Be realistic, demand the impossible!” ― Che Guevara

35. “To accomplish much, you must first lose everything.” ― Che Guevara

36. “Let the world change you and you can change the world.” ― Che Guevara

37. “One must endure without losing tenderness.” ― Che Guevara

38. “The only passion that guides me is for the truth… I look at everything from this point of view.” ― Che Guevara

39. “It’s a sad thing not to have friends, but it is even sadder not to have enemies.” ― Che Guevara

40. “Many will call me an adventurer – and that I am only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes.” ― Che Guevara

41. “If you can find ways without any obstacles, it probably leads nowhere.” ― Che Guevara

42. “The life of a single human being is worth a million times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.” ― Che Guevara

43. “The best form of saying is being.” ― Che Guevara

44. “Everyday people straighten up the hair, why not the heart?” ― Che Guevara

Che Guevara quotes about government

45. “A country that does not know how to read and write is easy to deceive.” ― Che Guevara

46. “Democracy is not compatible with financial oligarchy.” ― Che Guevara

47. “Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians.” ― Che Guevara

48. “One must have a large dose of humanity, a large dose of a sense of justice and truth in order to avoid dogmatic extremes, cold scholasticism, or isolation from the masses.  We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity is transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force.” ― Che Guevara

49. “How easy it is to govern when one follows a system of consulting the will of the people and one holds as the only norm all the actions which contribute to the wellbeing of the people.” ― Che Guevara

50. “Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.” ― Che Guevara

What did you learn from these Che Guevara quotes?

Che Guevara would be executed by the Bolivian Army on October 9, 1967. He had been captured and told he would stand trial but that day never came. Instead, the Bolivian captain, Gary Prado received orders to ‘get rid of him.’ 

The order was carried out by Mario Teran, who fired on Che Guevara with machine guns. His body was then put on display at the hospital, before being buried in an unmarked grave. When they found the grave 30 years later and exhumed the body, it was revealed that both his hands had been cut off. 

His death made him a martyr, as he often said it would. Even after all these years people still revere him as a saint. Susana Osinaga, 87, a retired nurse who helped wash the dirt and blood off Guevara’s body says,  “They said he looked like Christ. People today still pray to Saint Ernesto. They say he grants miracles.” His words, and deeds, in life certainly brought change.

What’s your biggest takeaway from these Che Guevara quotes and sayings? Do you have any other inspirational quotes to add? Let us know in the comment section below.