...it's only on a black day that you begin to have friends. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn More Quotes by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn More Quotes From Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn The timid civilized world has found nothing with which to oppose the onslaught of a sudden revival of barefaced barbarity, other than concessions and smiles. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn politicswisdomworld If I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible what was the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 'Men had forgotten God; that is why all this has happened.' Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn todaymenpeople A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage . . . . Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elite, causing an impression of a loss of courage by the entire society. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn intellectuallossworld Do not pursue what is illusory - property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life - don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is, after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn sweetinspirationalnight You're sincere, but in order not to upset your views you avoid talking with people who think differently. You pick your thoughts from conversations with people like yourself, from books written by people like yourself. In physics they call it resonance. You start out with modest opinions, but they match and build each other up to a scale. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn viewsbookthinking Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn memoriescountrytravel To reject this inhuman Communist ideology is simply to be a human being. Such a rejection is more than a political act. It is a protest of our souls against those who would have us forget the concepts of good and evil. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn rejectionevilwar Without any censorship, in the West fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those which are not fashionable; nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its way into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges. Legally your researchers are free, but they are conditioned by the fashion of the day. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn fashioncollegebook Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn warpeacelying It is the artist who realizes that there is a supreme force above him and works gladly away as a small apprentice under God's heaven. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn realizingartistheaven The task of the artist is to sense more keenly than others the harmony of the world, the beauty and the outrage of what man has done to it, and poignantly to let people know. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn menpeopleart If we look far into the future, one can see a time in the 21st century when both Europe and the USA will be in dire need of Russia as an ally. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn usarussiaeurope Let us not forget that violence does not live alone and is not capable of living alone: it is necessarily interwoven with falsehood. Between them lies the most intimate, the deepest of natural bonds. Violence finds its only refuge in falsehood, falsehood its only support in violence. Any man who has once acclaimed violence as his method must inexorably choose falsehood as his principle. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn supportmenlying Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn unlimitedhandspeople The simple act of an ordinary courageous man is not to take part, not to support lies! Let that come into the world and even reign over it, but not through me. Writers and artists can do more: they can vanquish lies! ... Lies can stand up against much in the world, but not against art. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn simplelyingart Pride grows in the human heart like lard on a pig. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn prideheartpigs To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he's doing is good. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn evilintegritybelieve A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy and nothing can stop him. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn attitudebeing-happyhappiness Everything you add to the truth subtracts from the truth. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn truthaddfunny We have to condemn the very idea that some people have the right to repress others. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn peopleideas
