Kim Jong Il QUOTES

1 " Of course, society, too, changes and develops in accordance with a certain law, not by man’s own will. But the action of law in society is fundamentally different from that of the law of nature. "

― Kim Jong Il , The Juche Philosophy is an Original Revolutionary Philosophy

2 " Man is a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

3 " People's social class influences their actions, but it does so through their ideological consciousness. Even people of an undesirable class origin, if under a revolutionary influence, can contribute to the revolution. The Juche idea's approach towards people of different classes and strata is that they should be judged by their ideas and actions and that the people who help towards social progress and the revolution should be trusted as a driving force of the revolution, without their social class origin being questioned. Our Party has never hesitated to trust all the people who have come out in the struggle for the masses' independence, and has guided them along the path of revolution. "

― Kim Jong Il , Our Socialism Centered on the Masses Shall Not Perish

4 " The class nature of the imperialists and reactionaries makes them antagonistic to the masses of the people. Accordingly they are afraid of the word "people" itself. Frequently using, the word "nation", they try to cover the class confrontation and conflict of capitalist society. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

5 " History shows that socialism first triumphed in relatively backwards countries, not in the countries where capitalism had developed. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

6 " The phrase "the masses of the people" assumes a class character in class society. An exploiter society is divided into the exploiter class and the exploited class, or the ruling class and the ruled class, depending on who owns the means of production and who controls state power. The exploited class, the ruled class, forms the majority of the masses of the people. The class structure of the masses of the people is not immutable. It changes as social history develops. In capitalist society, not only workers and peasants, but also working intellectuals and many other classes and strata which champion and struggle for independence, form the masses of the people. In socialist society, all people are transformed into socialist working people, so everyone is a member of the masses of the people. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

7 " According to the religious, idealist view, which regards man as a purely spiritual being, man is a product of a certain supernatural, mysterious being and his destiny is also decided by the latter. By means of their religious, idealist view of man, the reactionary ruling class and its spokesmen preached that the miserable lot of the working masses who suffered exploitation and oppression was their unavoidable fate and therefore, they had to submit to their predestined lot. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

8 " Society, based on private ownership and its product, individualism, inevitably splits into hostile classes, produces class antagonism and social inequality, and is accompanied by the exploitation and oppression of the popular masses by a small ruling class. History shows that independence for the masses cannot be realized in a society based on individualism. A historical review of the development of human society proves that, in order to realize the masses' independence, a society based on individualism must be replaced by a society based on collectivism, by socialism and communism. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

9 " Of course, the capitalist class takes an interest in developing the productive forces in order to gain more profit, but capitalists do not create material wealth with their own hands. The masses create ideological and cultural wealth directly, and also produce progressive thinkers, prominent scientists and talented men of art and literature. The exploiter class also put forward their own ideological and cultural mouthpieces, but the ideas and culture they produce obstruct a moral social life and development. The masses transform society. The reactionary exploiter class is only interested in maintaining and consolidating the outmoded exploitative system, not in social transformation. The farce of "reform" staged by the ruling bourgeoisie is essentially aimed at extricating themselves from the crisis of capitalism. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

10 " The imperialists now violently interfere in other countries' affairs and trample upon other nations' sovereignty. They try to justify these acts under the excuse of 'defense of human rights'. Human rights cannot be conceived separately from the independence of countries and nations. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

11 " In capitalist society, where the future of the younger generations depends on their parents' purse, they cannot avoid falling victim to social inequality and social evils. Due to the aggression and intervention of the imperialists and the plunder of the exploiter class, many of the young generation throughout the world lose their lives or are maimed by war, social conflict, disease and hunger or they wander about the streets, committing crimes and degenerating. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

12 " It is clear that if socialist ownership is dissolved and converted into private ownership, the means of production, having been privatized, will be concentrated, sooner or later, in the hands of privileged people, speculators and a handful of other exploiters, no matter what the method of privatization may be. It is not long since privatization was carried out in those countries in which socialism had collapsed, but millionaires have already appeared while the vast majority of the working people are suffering because of unemployment and poverty. "

― Kim Jong Il , Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable

13 " Totalitarianism served as the political idea of fascist dictators. Notorious Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy used totalitarianism as an ideological tool to justify their fascist dictatorship. The fascist dictators stamped out even the most elementary democratic freedom and rights of the masses of the working people and enforced unprecedentedly tyrannical policies, behind the misleading name of "national socialism", claiming that for the sake of the whole nation and the whole state no working-class movement and no class struggle could be permitted. The reactionary nature of totalitarianism is that the interests of the working people are sacrificed for the sake of the rapacious interests of the reactionary ruling class under the pretence that the individual should be subordinated to the whole. What is meant by the whole in totalitarianism is not the whole of the popular masses but a tiny handful of privileged circles such as monopoly capitalists, major landowners, reactionary bureaucrats and warlords. "

― Kim Jong Il , Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable

14 " Man is a social being who works independently, creatively and consciously. "

― Kim Jong Il , Giving Priority to Ideological Work is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism

15 " The fact that a brush is depicted in the Party emblem together with a hammer and sickle clearly shows that our party defines intellectuals as an integral part along with workers and peasants. It was our Party alone which regarded intellectuals as a part of the main revolutionary force from the first days of revolution and depicted a brush in its emblem along with a hammer and a sickle. "

― Kim Jong Il , Let us Further Enhance the Role of Intellectuals in the Revolution and Construction

16 " What is opposed to communism is not nationalism in general but bourgeois nationalism, national egoism, and national chauvinism, which subordinates the common interests of the nation to the interests of a handful of the exploiting class, in the guise of nationalism. "

― Kim Jong Il ,

17 " A capitalist society is ruled by egoism which sets the interests of the community against those of individuals, and places the interests of individuals above those of the community. Egoism inevitably results in social inequality and an increasing imbalance between rich and poor, and it produces conflicting relations among people. Egoism conflicts with the intrinsic nature of man as a social being. Because he is a social being capable of shaping his destiny only within the social community, man has an intrinsic need for collectivism. The Juche idea has made clear that the masses, and not an individual, are the driving force of the revolution and that collectivism, and not egoism, is an intrinsic requirement of man. The basic requirement of collectivism is that the interests of the collective should be placed above those of individuals, that the two types of interests should be harmonized and that the interests of individuals should be realized through the realization of those of the collective. That which is contrary to collectivism is not the individual interests themselves but egoism which seeks to satisfy only individual interests at the expense of collective interests. "

― Kim Jong Il , Our Socialism Centered on the Masses Shall Not Perish

18 " A struggle in the sphere of ideology is the prelude to a political struggle, and naturally develops into a struggle for power. "

― Kim Jong Il , The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of our Party

19 " As the history of revolutionary wars shows, a revolutionary army which is in firm politico-ideological readiness, though armed with inferior weapons, can fight and defeat an enemy equipped with the latest arms. "

― Kim Jong Il , On the Juche Idea

20 " The manoeuvres of the US imperialists for 'globalization' and 'integration' are aimed
at turning the world into what they call a 'free' and 'democratic' world styled after the United States, and thus bringing all countries and nations under their domination and subordination. "

― Kim Jong Il , On Nationalism