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Quotes by Russian Authors
"For me archaeology is not a source of illustrations for written texts, but an independent source of historical information, with no less value and importance, sometimes more importance, that the written sources."
"There was the scientific and technical progress which couldn't be predicted by the state."
"When you are skinning your customers, you should leave some skin on to heal, so that you can skin them again."
"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"
"We expect everything and are prepared for nothing."
"For to tempt and to be tempted are things very nearly allied... whenever feeling has anything to do in the matter, no sooner is it excited than we have already gone vastly farther than we are aware of."
"Law is a formless mass of isolated decisions."
"To be champion requires more than simply being a strong player; one has to be a strong human being as well."
"I think this is all my life. Because if I was split gymnastics and something else like far, fun or to go with friends. No, this, you're supposed to one go, one straight road and to do every day. And touch the wall, of the goal."
"Russia is still the leader in world space exploration. But its position of leader involves great responsibility - we have no right to lag behind. We can and we must move constantly forward."
"Many who have had an opportunity of knowing any more about mathematics confuse it with arithmetic, and consider it an arid science. In reality, however, it is a science which requires a great amount of imagination."
"We need strong personalities and only one world champion to attract sponsors."
"I'm communicating with the directors of the Soviet companies, and I see that it is wrong, but when I go to the official discussions, they discuss we should change the color of the walls."
"There are certain words which are nearer and dearer to a man than any others."
"Men have been taught that it is a virtue to agree with others. But the creator is the man who disagrees. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to swim with the current. But the creator is the man who goes against the current. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together. But the creator is the man who stands alone."
"Everybody should have his personal sounds to listen for - sounds that will make him exhilarated and alive or quiet and calm."
"A poet must be a psychologist, but a secret one: he should know and feel the roots of phenomena but present only the phenomena themselves in full bloom or as they fade away."
"Human beings yield in many situations, even important and spiritual and central ones, as long as it prolongs one's well-being."
"You see, there's a theory current you're insane, or you lean strongly in that direction."
"Thus it is that no cruelty whatsoever passes by without impact. Thus it is that we always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap."
"We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them."
"Our present system is unique in world history, because over and above its physical and economic constraints, it demands of us total surrender of our souls, continuous and active participation in the general, conscious lie. To this putrefaction of the soul, this spiritual enslavement, human beings who wish to be human cannot consent. When Caesar, having exacted what is Caesar's, demands still more insistently that we render him what is God's - that is a sacrifice we dare not make!"
"Politics begin where the masses are, not where there are thousands, but where there are millions, that is where serious politics begin."
"Conductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it."
"Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing."
"A dream is a strange thing. Pictures appear with terrifying clarity, the minutest details engraved like pieces of jewelry, and yet we leap unawares through huge abysses of time and space. Dreams seem to be controlled by wish rather than reason, the heart rather than the head"and yet, what clever, tricky convolutions my reason sometimes makes while I'm asleep! Things quite beyond comprehension happen to reason in dreams!"
"In spite of death, he felt the need of life and love. He felt that love saved him from despair, and that this love, under the menace of despair, had become still stronger and purer. The one mystery of death, still unsolved, had scarcely passed before his eyes, when another mystery had arisen, as insoluble, urging him to love and to life."
"Time, as is well known, sometimes flies like a bird and sometimes crawls like a worm, but human beings are generally particularly happy when they don't notice whether it's passing quickly or slowly."
"Philosophers are adults who persist in asking childish questions."
"If Russia rises, it means that the USA falls down."
"Those who live in a world of human beings can only retrace their steps."
"To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt."
"You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you."
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