“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown shall never be uprooted”
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted” is a popular quotation credited to Russian political leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924). The earliest quotations cited in print begin to appear in the late 1920s and early 1930s—after Lenin’s death—and vary slightly.
”“Give me four years with the children, and I do not care what happens” was cited in print in 1929. “Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown shall never be uprooted” was cited in 1931. “Give me four years in which to teach the children, and my clock will never be put back” was also cited in 1931. “Give me five years to teach the children and the seed sown shall not be uprooted” was cited in 1932.
Wikipedia: Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: Владимир Ильич Ленин, IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɪlʲˈjit͡ɕ ˈlʲenʲɪn]; born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Russian: Владимир Ильич Ульянов; 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the leader of the Russian SFSR from 1917, and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death. Politically a Marxist, his theoretical contributions to Marxist thought are known as Leninism, which coupled with Marxian economic theory have collectively come to be known as Marxism–Leninism.
Google Books
Mirrors of Moscow
By Harry J. Greenwall
London: G.G. Harrap & Co.
1929
Pg. 241:
The future of Communism in Russia, whatever the future may be, is in the hands of the children. Lenin once said, “Give me four years with the children, and I do not care what happens.”
Google Books
What Russia Intends:
The Peoples, Plans and Policy of Soviet Russia
By Bruce Hopper
London: Cape
1931
Pg. 83:
It was Lenin who said: ‘Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown shall never be uprooted.’
16 October 1931, Greensboro (NC) Daily News, “No. 4 ‘Liberty’ in Russia” by Raymond F. Brandt, pg. 19, col. 6:
Lenin said, “Give me four years in which to teach the children, and my clock will never be put back.”
Google Books
The Iron Road to Samarcand
By Margaret Reibold Craig-McKerrow
London: De La More Press
1932
Pg. 24:
As Lenin said, ‘Give me four years to teach the children and no czar or other regime will eradicate my lessons.’
Google Books
New Minds: New Men?:
The Emergence of the Soviet Citizen
By Thomas Woody
New York, NY: The Macmillan Company
1932
Pg. 41:
Lenin, like Erasmus, and other educators since long ages past, believed in the efficiency of training: “Give me,” said he, “five years to teach the children and the seed sown shall not be uprooted.”
Google Books
Duranty Reports Russia
By Walter Duranty
New York, NY: Viking Press
1934
Pg. 175:
Lenin once said, “Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I shall have sown will never be uprooted.”
Google Books
1001 Smartest Things Teachers Ever Said
By Randy Howe
Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press
2010
Pg. 134:
Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted. —Vladimir Lenin, politician