50 Fascism Quotes About the Meaning and History of the Term
Published April 15, 2022
These fascism quotes from proponents and opponents of the movement will help you better understand the term.
Fascism is a word that gets tossed around a lot, but many people do not truly understand what it means.
What is fascism in simple terms?
Basically, it is a movement that promotes the idea of a forcibly large, powerful, indivisible, and uniform nation.
The regimented nation is under the control of an autocratic ruler.
An autocratic ruler is someone who rules with ‘an iron fist.’
They are dictators who use fear and control to gain power.
They are people like Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Elizabeth I, and Vladimir Putin.
These are all leaders who exert (or exerted) complete, authoritarian control over a group or organization—in their case, it was over nations and empires.
Keep reading to learn more about the origins of fascism.
If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement.
Read more related content on our inspirational quotes category page.
Thought-provoking fascism quotes
1. “Unity in faith is theocracy; unity in politics is fascism.” — Maajid Nawaz
2. “Fascism was a counter-revolution against a revolution that never took place.” — Ignazio Silone
3. “Fascism is not in itself a new order of society. It is the future refusing to be born.” — Aneurin Bevan
4. “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” — Sinclair Lewis
5. “Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them.” — Jean-Paul Sartre
6. “The 20th century was a test bed for big ideas – fascism, communism, the atomic bomb.” — P. J. O’Rourke
7. “Any society where it’s a crime or a hassle to be different is a society based on psychological fascism.” — David Icke
8. “You cannot appease fascism by meeting it in the middle; you cannot beat racism by indulging or excusing it.” — Mehdi Hasan
9. “Fascism is itself less ideological, in so far as it openly proclaims the principle of domination that is elsewhere concealed.” — Theodor Adorno
10. “No government fights fascism to destroy it. When the bourgeoisie sees that power is slipping out of its hands, it brings up fascism to hold onto their privileges.” — Buenaventura Durruti
Fascism quotes from Benito Mussolini
11. “Fascism is a religious concept.” — Benito Mussolini
12. “Fascism is not an article for export.” — Benito Mussolini
13. “Peace is absurd: Fascism does not believe in it.” — Benito Mussolini
14. “The definition of fascism is The marriage of corporation and state.” — Benito Mussolini
15. “Fascism is a religion. The twentieth century will be known in history as the century of Fascism.” — Benito Mussolini
16. “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” — Benito Mussolini
17. “The struggle between the two worlds [Fascism and Democracy] can permit no compromises. It’s either Us or Them!” — Benito Mussolini
18. “Fascist education is moral, physical, social, and military: it aims to create a complete and harmoniously developed human, a fascist one according to our views.” — Benito Mussolini
19. “The keystone of the Fascist doctrine is its conception of the State, of its essence, its functions, and its aims. For Fascism the State is absolute, individuals and groups relative.” — Benito Mussolini
20. “Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity, quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace.” — Benito Mussolini
Fascism quotes about capitalism and communism
21. “Fascism is capitalism in decay.” — Vladimir Lenin
22. “Fascism is capitalism plus murder.” — Upton Sinclair
23. “Fascism is nothing but capitalist reaction.” — Leon Trotsky
24. “Fascism is the stage reached after communism has proved an illusion.” — Friedrich von Hayek
25. “There are words bandied about that are being misused – words like ‘socialism,’ words like ‘communism,’ words like ‘fascism.’” — Jim Leach
26. “After two world wars, the collapse of fascism, nazism, communism and colonialism and the end of the cold war, humanity has entered a new phase of its history.” — Hans Kung
27. “The war against terror is every bit as important as our fight against fascism in World War II. Or our struggle against the spread of Communism during the Cold War.” — Jim Bunning
28. “Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.” — Timothy D. Snyder
29. “During the New Deal, people thought to be liberal was to reject socialism on one extreme and fascism on the other, and to preserve capitalism through regulation and a social safety net.” — Noah Feldman
30. “Communism and fascism were born out of frustration with an establishment that still knew royalty and possessed very few of the characteristics we commonly attribute to democracy today.” — Sean Hepburn Ferrer
Funny fascism quotes
31. “Fascism is a lie told by bullies.” — Ernest Hemingway
32. “It’s repellent and tiring to me to talk about fascism again.” — Benedetto Croce
33. “Fascism begins with the thought that everybody else is an idiot.” — Paul Valery
34. “Churchill didn’t dance around the Nazis; he called it fascism.” — Michael McCaul
35. “That which the Fascists hate above all else, is intelligence.” — Miguel de Unamuno
36. “I do not fight fascists because I will win. I fight fascists because they are fascists.” — Chris Hedge
37. “We can’t have the DNC deciding how big companies behave. That’s called fascism.” — Gavin McInnes
38. “When you mix fashion and politics, you get fascism. Politics have fashion, and it’s bad; fashion has politics, that are ugly.” — Nate Lowman
39. “Fascism is itself less ideological, in so far as it openly proclaims the principle of domination that is elsewhere concealed.” — Theodor Adorno
40. “Fascism is the consequence of economic jam and dictatorship is the product of Fascism, for fascism cannot be managed save by a dictator.” — John T. Flyn
Fascism quotes from Henry Wallace
41. “The myth of fascist efficiency has deluded many people.” — Henry Wallace
42. “The fascists in Latin America learn to speak and act like natives.” — Henry Wallace
43. “The obvious types of American fascists are dealt with on the air and in the press.” — Henry Wallace
44. “The symptoms of fascist thinking are colored by environment and adapted to immediate
Circumstances.” — Henry Wallace
45. “The European brand of fascism will probably present its most serious postwar threat to us via Latin America.” — Henry Wallace
46. “The worldwide, agelong struggle between fascism and democracy will not stop when the fighting ends in Germany and Japan.” — Henry Wallace
47. “Fascism is a worldwide disease. Its greatest threat to the United States will come after the war, either via Latin America or within the United States itself.” — Henry Wallace
48. “The fascists in most Latin American countries tell the people that the reason their wages will not buy as much in the way of goods is because of Yankee imperialism.” — Henry Wallace
49. “If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States.” — Henry Wallace
50. “A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.” — Henry Wallace
The origins of fascism
The word fascism comes from fascio, an Italian word that means bundle.
Its origins go back to Ancient Rome when the fasces referred to bundle of wood with an ax head, carried by leaders.
Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist dictator, founded the Fasces of Revolutionary Action in Italy in 1915.
In 1919, Mussolini founded the Italian Fasces of Combat in Milan.
Two years later it became the National Fascist Party.
Fascism is similar to authoritarianism and dictatorships, however, historians have agreed there are a few distinctions.
First, fascists are focused on race-first thinking.
They talk about things like the purity of race and separating themselves from the races seen beneath them.
They are also people who believe capitalism is good so long as the companies serve the needs of the fascist leadership and the people.
In exchange for the government’s protection of private property, fascists believe that capitalists should use their money to further the needs of the rulers.
Fascists are also all about using their might.
A key component is to spread the idea that the nation’s “patriots” have been forgotten.
They repeatedly build this notion that “good” people are suffering while the “bad” people get ahead.
They use their substantial power to break the status quo, often sparking revolutionary change.
This change is supposed to help the “real people” to break free from the restraints of democracy or existing law.
However, when you put a fascist leader ahead of everything including facts that is not what happens.
It is all about getting even done so by, breaking unions, distorting elections, and intimidating the police.
They revolt against socialism because it upsets the balance with its capitalist buddies.
They reject democracy, especially when policies are aimed at leveling the playing field.
What are your thoughts?
Do you have any other favorite fascism quotes and sayings to add?
Let us know in the comment section below.
