“I believe this to be a turning point in our history: the tyranny has been overthrown. The rejoicing is immense. But there is still much to be done. We mustn't fool ourselves into believing that the future will be easy; everything may be more difficult in the future. Telling the truth is the first duty of all revolutionaries. Deceiving the people, raising false hopes, always brings the worst consequences, and I feel it's necessary to warn everyone against over-optimism.”
Quotes
“And remember this, remember what history teaches: that there is no halfway in these revolutionary processes, which either attain full victory or stand to be defeated; history teaches that the way is from extreme revolution to extreme reaction. And, of course, you can be sure that we will not be counted among those defeated.”
“Those of us who have read about the history of the Americas, who have meditated more than once about it, from the time when we acquired the first political notions and learned the first concepts about what this continent was like, its origin and its history, have found it very difficult to understand why our America has reached the present status; (…) why have we lived so estranged from each other; why have we lived so indifferently to those who many a time have been separated from us only by a river, or an imaginary line, or a mountain, or an inlet, when we all were essentially one and the same thing.”
“…work, organize and put into action the spirit of creation, the enthusiasm of Cuban women, so that Cuban women, in this stage of the revolutions, will see to the disappearance of the last shred of discrimination; and so that Cuban women, because of their virtues and merits, will take the place corresponding them in the country’s history.”
"This is the Revolution, always looking for the best of the country, and with the best of the country preparing the best future for all Cubans. And so we go marching on with what we have. What we have is not perfect, we have received the inheritance of the past, an inheritance, in many ways negative, from the past".
The Revolution is the most complex and the most convulsive of all historical events. It is an infallible law of all revolutions, and history teaches that no true revolution can ever fail to be an extraordinarily convulsive process. If it is not, it is not a revolution.
“Our revolution is one of these events which will make history and the people who are bringing about the revolution and the generation which is undertaking the revolution will be talked about in the future with admiration by the coming generations in Cuba, America and the entire world”
“We are fighting in the defence of the sacred Homeland and the Revolution, against the mercenary attack organized by the imperialist government of the United States.”
“"Their society" of privileged minorities over exploited majorities, "their class order" which they maintain with blood and fire over the dispossessed, "the homeland" which they alone enjoy, depriving the rest of the people of that enjoyment, to repress the revolutionaries who aspire to a new society, a just order, a true homeland for all”.
“[…]the struggle for peace also means the struggle for the independence of the peoples, it means the struggle for the freedom of the colonies, it means the struggle for the economic development of the poorest countries, it means the struggle to liberate the peoples from imperialist exploitation and domination.”
“But it is a historical truth, an inexorable law of history, that all peoples exploited by imperialism will free themselves from imperialism, and that the peoples of Latin America will also free themselves, just as those in Asia who are yet to free themselves will also be free and those remaining in Africa to be freed as well.”
"It is not an easy thing to do in the midst of today’s problems complexities in the world today. It is difficult to maintain that inflexible opinion, maintain this inflexible independence, but we will maintain it. This Revolution was not imported from anywhere. It is a genuine product of this country. Nobody told us how we must do it, and we have carried it out. (APPLAUSE) And nobody will have to tell us how we must continue to carry it out, and we will continue to carry it out. We have learned to write history and we will continue to write it. Let no one doubt it".