Robert Conquest, as quoted in Hitch 22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens (2011)
“
There was an old bastard named Lenin Who did two or three million men in. That's a lot to have done in But where he did one in That old bastard Stalin did ten in.
— Robert Conquest
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "There was an old bastard named Lenin Who did two or three million men in. That's a lot to have done in But where he did one in That old bastard Stalin did ten in." in the context of "Robert Conquest, as quoted in Hitch 22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens (2011)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Joseph Stalin" (Quotes about Joseph Stalin: Alphabetized by author )
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; 21 December {9 December Old Style} 1879 – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He served as both General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Despite initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he ultimately consolidated power to become the Soviet Union's dictator by the 1930s. A communist ideologically committed to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, Stalin formalised these ideas as Marxism–Leninism while his own policies are known as Stalinism. He was the father of Svetlana Alliluyeva.
About Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; 21 December {9 December Old Style} 1879 – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He served as both General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Despite initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he ultimately consolidated power to become the Soviet Union's dictator by the 1930s. A communist ideologically committed to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, Stalin formalised these ideas as Marxism–Leninism while his own policies are known as Stalinism. He was the father of Svetlana Alliluyeva.
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