"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"
This was spoken by
Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev in a 1959 speech to Western leaders, including
Dwight D. Eisenhower. Khrushchev had been invited to speak as a sign of
goodwill for new relations between the West and the
Soviet Union. Unfortunately for Krushchev, his
translator was unfamiliar with the Russian phrase "We will bury you", which in context means "We will outlive you", and translated it
literally. With the political climate of the day, the Western leaders whom he was speaking to took this as a
threat to their countries and
democracy everywhere.
Khrushchev later clarified his translator's error by stating, "I once said 'We will bury you,' and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you."