Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, commonly known as El Che or simply Che, was a Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, since his death Guevara's stylized visage has become an ubiquitous countercultural symbol and global icon within popular culture.
His belief in the necessity of world revolution to advance the interests of the poor prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's radical ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their movement, and travelled to Cuba with the intention of overthrowing the U.S.-backed Batista regime. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the successful two year guerrilla campaign that topled the Cuban government.
After serving in a number of key roles in the new government, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.
Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled "Guerrillero Heroico," was declared "the most famous photograph in the world" by the Maryland Institute of Art.
“Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.”
“When asked whether or not we are Marxists, our position is the same as that of a physicist, when asked if he is a “Newtonian” or of a biologist when asked if he is a “Pasteurian.”
“A country that does not know how to read and write is easy to deceive.”
“Jika hati anda bergetar melihat penindasan maka lawanlah sebab diam adalah bentuk penghianatan”
“One has to grow hard but without ever losing tenderness.”
“We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.”
“Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world.”
“The revolution is not an apple that falls when ripe. You have to make it fall.”
“The first duty of a revolutionary is to be educated.”
“Hay que endurecerse, pero sin perder la ternura jamás!”
“The walls of the educational system must come down. Education should not be a privilege, so the children of those who have money can study.”
“Every day People straighten up the hair, why not the heart?”
“إذا كُنت تُريد معرفة الشعب ، ولن تتمتع بفهم الحياة - حياة البشر . ليست تلك البنايات الأثرية سوى جمال جامد .. لكن روح الشعب وصفاته تسكن في العجائز ، وفي عابر سبيل تتحدث معه ”
“Hay que ser duro pero jamas perder la ternura.[It is necessary to be hard but never to lose the tenderness]”
“What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two: melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land.”
“Be realistic, demand the impossible!”