80 Socialism Quotes About The Political and Economic Theory

These socialism quotes shed light on the political and economic theory.

“Socialism” has been a word that has increasingly been thrown about in the volatile sphere of American politics.

However, most people do not truly understand the term, because it has been used as a blanket term in response to many different agendas.

So, what does socialism actually mean?

These socialism quotes might help shed a little more light and include sayings from people like Winston Churchill and Thomas Sowell.

The dictionary has several different definitions of the word socialism, which in part is why it is all confusing.

The definition of the noun itself is, “a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.”

Another definition of the word, though, results from Marxist Theory and defines socialism as “a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of Communism.”

It is no surprise that you will find a lot of socialism quotes from Karl Marx on this list.

Keep reading for some quotes that portray both sides of the argument!

Don’t forget to also check out these social justice quotes the everyday warrior needs to keep fighting the good fight.

Also, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily wisdom. 

See the rest of our quote database for even more inspirational ideas and thoughts.

Socialism quotes from Winston Churchill

1. “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” — Winston Churchill

2. “Socialism is like a dream. Sooner or later you wake up to reality.” — Winston Churchill

3. “Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the object worship of the state.” — Winston Churchill

4. “Socialism is an attack on the right to breathe freely. No socialist system can be established without a political police.” — Winston Churchill

5. “Socialism would gather all power to the supreme party and party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of civil servants no longer servants, no longer civil.” — Winston Churchill

6. “The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.” — Winston Churchill

7. “It is not alone that property, in all its forms, is struck at, but that liberty, in all its forms, is challenged by the fundamental conceptions of socialism.” — Winston Churchill

8. “Socialism needs to pull down wealth; liberalism seeks to raise up poverty.” — Winston Churchill

9. “Socialism exalts the rule; Liberalism exalts the man.” — Winston Churchill

10. “Socialism attacks capitalism; Liberalism attacks monopoly.” — Winston Churchill

Socialism quotes from Karl Marx and Thomas Sowell

11. “Democracy is the road to socialism.” — Karl Marx

12. “The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.” — Karl Marx

13. “Christian socialism is but the holy water with which the priest consecrates the heart-burnings of the aristocrat.” — Karl Marx

14. “The bourgeoisie is just as necessary a precondition for the socialist revolution as is the proletariat itself.” — Karl Marx

15. “Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.” — Thomas Sowell

16. “Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous.” — Thomas Sowell

17. “Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export…. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea — in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders. ” — Thomas Sowell

18. “The strongest argument for socialism is that it sounds good. The strongest argument against socialism is that it doesn’t work. But those who live by words will always have a soft spot in their hearts for socialism because it sounds so good.” — Thomas Sowell

19. “Capitalism makes them pay a price for their failures, while socialism, feudalism, fascism and other systems enable personal failures, especially by those at the top, to be ignored.” — Thomas Sowell

20. “The economic disasters of socialism and communism come from assuming a blanket superiority of those who want to run a whole economy.” — Thomas Sowell

Socialism quotes about democracy

21. “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” — Alexis de Tocqueville

22. “Democratic socialism means that we must reform a political system that is corrupt, that we must create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.” — Bernie Sanders

23. “Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself.” — Jawaharlal Nehru

24. “The only way to save the world is through socialism, but a socialism that exists within a democracy; there’s no dictatorship here.” — Hugo Chavez

25. “When we talk about the word ‘socialism,’ I think what it really means is just democratic participation in our economic dignity and our economic, social, and racial dignity. It is about direct representation and people actually having power and stake over their economic and social wellness, at the end of the day.” — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

26. “Democracy is indispensable to socialism.” — Vladimir Lenin

27. “More socialism means more democracy, openness and collectivism in everyday life.” — Mikhail Gorbachev

28. “Socialism is the democratisation of every level of society, or it is nothing. It is based on an understanding that the concentration of wealth and power leaves democracy hollowed out, and that simply trooping to a polling station every few years is an insufficient counterweight to the behemoths of global capital.” — Owen Jones

Socialism quotes for and against the concept

29. “Socialism states that you owe me something simply because I exist. Capitalism, by contrast, results in a sort of reality-forced altruism: I may not want to help you, I may dislike you, but if I don’t give you a product or service you want, I will starve. Voluntary exchange is more moral than forced redistribution.” — Ben Shapiro

30. “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.” — Margaret Thatcher

31. “No one should suffer from the great delusion that any form of communism or socialism which promotes the dictatorship of the few instead of the initiative of the millions can produce a happier or more prosperous society.” — Charles E. Wilson

32. “In practice, socialism didn’t work. But socialism could never have worked because it is based on false premises about human psychology and society, and gross ignorance of human economy.” — David Horowitz

33. “I believe that all forms of socialism have been proven over time to result in a loss of both economic and civil liberties, with increasing poverty.” — John Mackey

34. “Socialism has no moral justification whatsoever; poor people are not morally superior to rich people, nor are they owed anything by rich people simply because of their lack of success. Charity is not a socialist concept – it is a religious one, an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over property, a sovereignty the Left utterly rejects.” — Ben Shapiro

35. “To me, what socialism means is to guarantee a basic level of dignity. It’s asserting the value of saying that the America we want and the America that we are proud of is one in which all children can access a dignified education. It’s one in which no person is too poor to have the medicines they need to live.” — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

36. “I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself… I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.” — Roger Nash Baldwin

37. “Socialism is a sacred cause for realizing the demand and desire of the masses of the people for independence; it is a revolutionary cause that advances amid a fierce struggle against imperialism and all other counterrevolutionary forces.” — Kim Jong-un

38. “To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukaemia with leeches.” — Margaret Thatcher

39. “The harsh reality is that socialism not only destroys economic freedom, it severely limits the capability of everyone to reach maximum potential. It’s a system that doesn’t provide more, but instead vastly less.” — Katie Pavlich

Short socialism quotes and sayings

40. “All socialism involves slavery.” — Herbert Spencer

41. “The goal of socialism is communism.” — Vladimir Lenin

42. “Socialism means slavery.” — John Dalberg-Acton

43. “Socialism requires that government becomes your god.” — Rafael Cruz

44. “Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.” — Hubert H. Humphrey

45. “Socialism is the ideal state, but it can never be achieved while man is so selfish.” — Annie Besant

46. “Socialism values equality more than liberty.” — Dennis Prager

47. “There is nothing in socialism that a little age or a little money will not cure.” — Will Durant

48. “Capitalism is war; socialism is peace.” — Karl Liebknecht

49. “While there’s capitalism, there’ll be socialism, because there is always a response to injustice.” — Ed Miliband

50. “Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism.” — Erich Honecker

Anti Socialism Quotes

51. “Socialism is a fraud, a comedy, a phantom, a blackmail.” — Benito Mussolini

52. “As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.” — George Orwell

53. “Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.” — George Bernard Shaw

54. “Yes, in socialism the rich will be poorer – but the poor will also be poorer. People will lose interest in really working hard and creating jobs.” – Thomas Peterffy

55. “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” – Thomas Jefferson

56. “If socialists understood economics, they wouldn’t be socialists.” – Friendrich Von Hayek

57. “Good conservatives always pay their bills. Unlike socialists, who just run up other people’s bills.” – Margaret Thatcher

58. “The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement.” — Ludwig von Mises

59. “Socialist economies don’t work; they create poverty instead of wealth” — David Horowitz

60. “America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to ‘the common good,’ but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes.” — Ayn Rand

Socialism Quotes By Margaret Thatcher

61. “I haven’t fought the destructive forces of socialism for more than twenty years in order to stop now, when the critical phase of the struggle is upon us.” — Margaret Thatcher

62. “It is not a function of the State to ensure that no-one climbs higher than anyone else. All that is the philosophy of socialism.” — Margaret Thatcher

63. “There is no such thing as ‘safe’ socialism. If it’s safe, it’s not socialism. And if it’s socialism, it’s not safe.” — Margaret Thatcher

64. “The signposts of socialism point downhill to less freedom, less prosperity, downhill to more muddle, more failure. If we follow them to their destination, they will lead this nation into bankruptcy.” — Margaret Thatcher

65. “Surely this is infinitely preferable to the socialist-statist philosophy which sets up a centralized economic system to which the individual must conform, which subjugates him, directs him, and denies him the right to free choice.” — Margaret Thatcher

66. “Socialists cry “Power to the people,” and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean—power over people, power to the State.” — Margaret Thatcher

67. “I set out to destroy socialism because I felt it was at odds with the character of the people.” — Margaret Thatcher

68. “We were the first country in the world to roll back the frontiers of socialism, then roll forward the frontiers of freedom. We reclaimed our heritage; we are renewing it and carrying it forward.” — Margaret Thatcher

69. “One of our principal and continuing priorities when we are returned to office will be to restore the freedoms which the Socialists have usurped. Let them learn that it is not a function of the State to possess as much as possible.” — Margaret Thatcher

70. “Some socialists seem to believe that people should be numbers in a State computer. We believe they should be individuals.” — Margaret Thatcher

Socialism Quotes About Equality

71. “The essential characteristic of socialism is the denial of individual property rights.” — Ayn Rand

72. Socialism is just another form of religion, and thus delusional.” — John Steinbeck

73. “They do say that socialism is the ideal philosophy-just as long as you have capitalists to pay for it.” — Wilbur Smith

74. “Socialism is the religion people get when they lose their religion.” — Richard John Neuhaus

75. “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” — John Steinbeck

76. “Socialism takes and redistributes wealth, but it is utterly incapable of creating wealth.” — Leonard Read

77. “Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.” — Ludwig von Mises

78. “Socialism builds and capitalism destroys.” — Hugo Chavez

79. “We are now moving towards complete collectivism or socialism, a system under which everybody is enslaved to everybody.” — Ayn Rand

80. “To be a socialist is to submit the I to the thou; socialism is sacrificing the individual to the whole.” — Joseph Goebbels

What did you learn from these socialism quotes?

There are many sides to the arguments around socialism, but capitalists will point out that socialism just doesn’t work. 

Mark Perry says that “While it promised prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny.

Equality was achieved only in the sense that everyone was equal in his or her misery.”

Then there are proponents of socialism who stand firmly in their belief that it would work much better for everyone.

Lumen Learning offers these benefits in one of its courses on international business, “reducing wealth disparities, unemployment and inflation (through price controls).”

The course goes on to add that additional benefits include economic planning, the ability to make good use of land, labor, and resources, as well as avoiding production excess or deficits.”

One of the socialism quotes that seemed most profound to me doesn’t actually define the word or argue one way or the other.

Hubert Humphrey simply states that “Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.”

No matter your political beliefs, I would like to think that we can all agree on this sentiment.

The world is a much better place when humans show compassion and concern.

What’s your biggest takeaway from these socialism quotes and sayings?

You can share your thoughts, in a respectful manner, in the comment section below!