Nicholas quotes
36 total quotesLeon Trotsky
Prime Minister Witte
Tsar Nicholas II
Tsarevitch Alexei
Tsaritsa Alexandra
Vladmir Lenin
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[Lenin is living in a squalid apartment in France. The Bolshevik party is in big trouble; having been infiltarted by the Ohkrana and is near ruin. Lenin is not faring well himself having to go into exile. He is confirming his depression to his wife.]
In my ten years of exile, I have only been to Russia three months. I speak, no one listens to me. I write, no one bothers to read what I publish. I am out of style, no one is wearing me this season. I know what happens to expatriates; they go mad or they fade away in lands they are not native to. Is this all there is. I mean, three hundred years of Romanovs. What is there to say there will not be three hundred more?
In my ten years of exile, I have only been to Russia three months. I speak, no one listens to me. I write, no one bothers to read what I publish. I am out of style, no one is wearing me this season. I know what happens to expatriates; they go mad or they fade away in lands they are not native to. Is this all there is. I mean, three hundred years of Romanovs. What is there to say there will not be three hundred more?
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[At an a secret location printing out copies of Pravda, a Bolshevik party newspaper, which at this time is an underground publication. Lenin chides him on an article criticizing him]
Lenin thinks freedom is something you write on a wall but you do not actually practice. I do not understand you. You hate anyone who is not your kind of Bolshevik more than you hate the Tsar. No wonder why they call you Robespierre. Everybody has got to think like you are they are out!
Lenin thinks freedom is something you write on a wall but you do not actually practice. I do not understand you. You hate anyone who is not your kind of Bolshevik more than you hate the Tsar. No wonder why they call you Robespierre. Everybody has got to think like you are they are out!
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[Commenting on the Bloody Sunday massacre and Russo-Japanese War]
Look at this, a massacre in Saint Petersburg! People were shot by the palace guards and Russia is in a riot! This time the Tsar has outdone himself. There is raw, naked power in the streets, just waiting for us to claim it! On top of that, the Japanese have forced Nicholas to accept peace on their terms. He has lost the war and all for nothing!
Look at this, a massacre in Saint Petersburg! People were shot by the palace guards and Russia is in a riot! This time the Tsar has outdone himself. There is raw, naked power in the streets, just waiting for us to claim it! On top of that, the Japanese have forced Nicholas to accept peace on their terms. He has lost the war and all for nothing!
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[Addressing a group of peasants about taking their grievances to the Tsar]
The Tsar is here in Saint Petersburg to bless the troops. He is staying at the Winter Palace. This Sunday, hundreds of us will walk to the palace in a peaceful parade. I will meet him on the balcony and read this: Your Majesty, we the working men and women of Saint Petersburg come to you seeking justice and protection. Only you can hear our grievances. If you do not help us, we will stay here and die, right in this very courtyard.
The Tsar is here in Saint Petersburg to bless the troops. He is staying at the Winter Palace. This Sunday, hundreds of us will walk to the palace in a peaceful parade. I will meet him on the balcony and read this: Your Majesty, we the working men and women of Saint Petersburg come to you seeking justice and protection. Only you can hear our grievances. If you do not help us, we will stay here and die, right in this very courtyard.
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[At a war gaming scenario discussing Russia's impending involvement in the First World War. Colonel Volkov and other military officers are convinced their war plan is flawless and show great overconfidence, which was also common in all other nations involved in World War One]
They will not last a week. We will bury the German Army and that little pansy of a Kaiser and be home in time for Christmas!
They will not last a week. We will bury the German Army and that little pansy of a Kaiser and be home in time for Christmas!
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[Nicholas & Alexandra are going to a birthday ball in honor of his mother; the Empress Dowager]
Tsarista Alexandra: "Oh Nicky, do we have to go? Can't we just say I have a headache."
Tsar Nicholas II: "It is my mother's birthday. You are too old for that now."
Tsaritsa Alexandra: "You never see unpleasant things. You drift away. I even wonder if you hear me half the time."
Tsar Nicholas II: "Just now I find you all too audible."
Tsaritsa Alexandra: "Nicky, guess what?"
Tsar Nicholas II: "You have got your headache."
[Both chuckle]
Tsarista Alexandra: "Oh Nicky, do we have to go? Can't we just say I have a headache."
Tsar Nicholas II: "It is my mother's birthday. You are too old for that now."
Tsaritsa Alexandra: "You never see unpleasant things. You drift away. I even wonder if you hear me half the time."
Tsar Nicholas II: "Just now I find you all too audible."
Tsaritsa Alexandra: "Nicky, guess what?"
Tsar Nicholas II: "You have got your headache."
[Both chuckle]