I was wondering how Trotsky came up with such a cool line, but he didn’t.
The original quite is: «Не каждый обезумевший мелкий бюргер может стать Гитлером, но во всяком неистовом лавочнике есть что-то от Гитлера.»
Which was translated as “Not every exasperated petty bourgeois could have become Hitler, but a particle of Hitler is lodged in every exasperated petty bourgeois.”
But in actuality, it means following: “Not every crazed petty bourgeois can become a Hitler, but every frenzied storekeeper has something of a Hitler in him.”
Source: I’m a native speaker
I was curious because Trotsky wasn’t the type to make cool quotes (That was Stalin).
Honestly it still works in my opinion. Particle of Hitler definitely hits different, but this also gets the point across handily.
“Not every crazed petty bourgeois can become a Hitler, but every frenzied storekeeper has something of a Hitler in him.”
I mean is that wrong
