Academics From Russia

"...from my point of view, a very serious, worthy and professional exhibition. It's nice that there is a solid culture of color, ...there is a persistent desire to express their feelings of life, their artistic vision."

"{{Translated quote"

"Why congratulate me? We are miners, no one knows our names, we work underground."

"Today the dreams of the best sons of mankind have come true. The assault on space has begun."

"He was one of the very best."

"The Soviets deliberately created their own geographic confusion, trying to conceal the location of their manned space center. By 1957, CIA spy planes had spotted the pad near the Central Asian railway station of Tyura-Tam, which CIA analysts proceeded to misspell forever after as "Tyuratam." In 1961, the Soviets, in a vain attempt at ex post facto geographic disinformation, named their launch site "Baikonur," which was itself a clumsy transliteration of Baikonyr, a small mining village hundreds of miles from the space base. When Kazakhstan became autonomous in 1991 and took nominal sovereignty over the spaceport, its leaders began referring to it as "Baikonyr." Perhaps someday the Russians can drop the now- admitted fraud once and for all and name the space base for the man who founded it, Sergei Korolev; then all the world's maps could carry a single -- and honorable -- designation."

"He was very positive; it was inside him. He tried to attract different people of all levels beginning from the worker. In his work place there was everybody. I worked in the competitive design bureau, but I met with him many times. I have nothing against him, but I had this feeling, which was bringing me to him, because he was the person who could make everybody work for him, and not really pressing them for it."

"The time will come when a spacecraft carrying human beings will leave the earth and set out on a voyage to distant planets to remote worlds. Today this may seem only an enticing fantasy, but such in fact is not the case. The launching of the first two Soviet Sputniks has already thrown a sturdy bridge from the earth into space, and the way to the stars is open."

"The further conquest of space will make it possible, for example, to create systems of satellites making daily revolutions around our planet at an altitude of some 40,000 kilometers, and to assure universal communications and the relaying of radio and television transmissions. There is no such thing as an unsolvable problem."

"Anyone can build complicated. Our actions are determined by simplicity."

"They say return the planes to us. You broke the contract, - our pilots say, - you take these planes. How to pick them up? Where to get these 500 pilot brigades? And at the same time, that they themselves closed the sky. They broke the contract, the planes automatically become foreign, and our skies are also closed to foreign ones. That is, it is generally not clear how to pick them up. And the funny thing is that these aircraft are not needed by leasing companies. They say: why do we need 500 aircraft? Where are we going to put them? And then the question arises about the bankruptcy of all these companies. And given that leasing companies, and all sorts of aviation, and others, are insured in the English "Lloyd" - in general, everything converges there with all insurers, - then the bankruptcy of Lloyd, as the largest, threatens. And banks and many investors had his shares - this is a huge chain ..."

"Europe will be free, albeit in a very shabby state, and will hate America and adore Russia. Russia will extend a helping hand to her and will help her, including in the fight against all kinds of Muslim terrorists who breed there. We will help them establish constitutional order, we will bring governments loyal to ourselves to power, and we will dominate this entire Europe. Not just like over Eastern Europe, as it was during the Soviet Union, but already over the whole."

"Generally speaking, what is the modern Ukrainian state? To put it crudely, it is a prostitute who has got infected with AIDS and wants to infect everyone else – to spread the infection so that more people die."

"Everything will be rosy, wonderful ... We will defeat everyone. But not at once. Now we have, roughly speaking, 1943. The 45th will be in ten years - it's just that the war is stretched out in time, not like with Nazi Germany, but stretched out over a long term. May 9 will be in ten years - victory over the whole world and over the last evil."

"Our task, taking advantage of the situation, is to finish off England - finally and irrevocably, so that such a state will never again exist on Earth. Because 500 years, while it exists, spoils Russia. Even America - it is not important for her to always fight with Russia. It is they who are simply babbled on by English political science, British secret services, English traditions, they conduct English, in fact, politics, copy it. If England is destroyed, peace will come in Eurasia, because the policy of England throughout its history is to quarrel everyone with everyone, otherwise they would not have survived. A small island that no one wants, on which nothing grows, there are no minerals, and so on, ruled half the world and now continues to rule, even America."

"I think huge riots in Europe will start by next winter, when they start cutting all these social programs. In general, in the next few years there will be a reformatting - the overthrow of governments, revolutions, chaos and anarchy. Local Muslims will take advantage of all this, they will probably declare Sharia laws in some cities - there will be territories of disobedience to European authorities, guerrilla warfare, and so on. Chaos will grow. These are the global implications,"

"America will also weaken. Everyone will see that this is a “paper tiger”, that you can do this with him. China is likely to take Taiwan. I think even this year. They will now prepare, see how everything is done. Accordingly, Russia and China will put forward all kinds of ultimatums to America - that, guys, you are no longer the same, so let's redo everything. Subsequently, when we completely pacify Ukraine, and it will be, all the "Nazis" will change their shoes. Do you remember, 20 years ago they said that Chechnya will never forget you, will never forgive you... Guys, look, now the Chechens are the best friends, loyal and so on. Because the Chechens understood, they were explained that they were used as "sixes" by the Anglo-Saxons in the fight against Russia. This is a small nation, each person is worth its weight in gold, and they killed their own children for American and British interests. They realized they didn't need it. Russia has never threatened them with anything. And from American and British politics, they only died in wars all the time. Ukrainians will understand the same thing when they are shown what atrocities the Nazis did... We will show all of this to Europe - how the Anglo-Saxons deceived Europe."

"Without Europe as its major base, America will be weakened. There are many political contradictions even now – in the last elections, even the Congress was taken by force. The next elections, I think, will be no less dangerous and bloody. In America, every generation since the 1970s has been living worse than the previous one - a lot of beggars, a lot of weapons, a lot of Mexicans and blacks, and crime. All this is very explosive. Americans spend money not on their social programs, but in order to feed all sorts of Navalny around the world. All this is not “good”."

"They closed the sky... Let's conditionally take England. 200 planes flew east from London, two planes flew from Russia. We'll be patient if two planes don't fly. And 200 planes to fly around this huge Russia - a sixth of the Earth, over Afghanistan, Iran ... How much will a ticket cost? Plus, for sure, intermediate landings will need to be done somewhere in Dubai and so on, paying for refueling. Tickets will almost certainly be $10,000. They punished themselves again."

"Europe will suffer very much – it will shrink economically. They already have debts over 100% of GDP. They will borrow more - I don’t know, though, who will give them. They will lose markets forever. It is impossible to say in two years - okay, we are coming back to you. This war, of course, is between the United States and Russia, but it is also a war between the United States and Europe, because there will be a flight of capital to America from Europe, a flight of brains and so on. America will prolong its existence by threatening Europe. Naturally, the niche of Europe will be taken by China, the same Russia and other so-called developing countries. That is, there will be a gigantic redistribution of the world."

"No New York, no Washington will die for the Baltics in the same way, or be ready to undergo nuclear attacks. In the same way, the Americans will surrender it, they will forget the fifth article, the so-called that they should start a war together there all at once ... Yeah, they fled - all Americans will run straight to the war, they will say - yes, bomb us, Russians, with atomic weapons for the Baltics. Where is she, by the way? Therefore, when they surrender it, and we go back to our borders, all the other European countries will say: wait, why did we pay some money here, arm ourselves, why did we need all this at all? NATO will fall apart, the management of the Americans in Europe will fall apart. Europe will be liberated, as they say."

"There are countries that receive 20% of GDP only from tourism. Clearly, not only Russian. But I don’t think that everyone will rush to Europe now and there will be an invasion of tourists. Given the global crisis, people have little money, so no one will rush anywhere. Everyone will suffer and die from tourism."

"The war is being waged with America, which has captured the historical territory of Russia - Ukraine. Roughly speaking, if compared with 1941, Hitler is modern America, the United States did not reach Moscow, but Donetsk, and used the population of Ukraine. The resources of all of Europe, as under Hitler, work, so to speak, for the Reich. All this is completely united - they all help informationally, economically thanks to sanctions, and now by military means. Their military theme is the weakest. They are not ready to suffer losses - they are ready to throw only the same Slavs, that is, Ukrainians, whom they zombified, into the slaughter. This is all they could do from a military point of view."

"I come to very sad conclusion: Donald Trump is totally mad. It is the shame. We loved him,"

"Whoever controls the Snake Island, controls the course of world history."

"We want patriotic radio, TV, patriotic experts, patriotic clubs. We want the media that expresses national interests."

"Trubetskoi can be termed the Eurasian Marx."

"It is especially important to introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics."

"Never before has individualism been glorified so much, yet at the same time, never before have people all over the world been so similar to each other in their behavior, habits, appearances, techniques, and tastes. In the pursuit of individualistic ’human rights’ humanity has lost itself. Soon man will be replaced by the post-human: a mutant, cloned android."

"In principle, Eurasia and our space, the heartland Russia, remain the staging area of a new anti-bourgeois, anti-American revolution ... The new Eurasian empire will be constructed on the fundamental principle of the common enemy: the rejection of Atlanticism, strategic control of the USA, and the refusal to allow liberal values to dominate us. This common civilizational impulse will be the basis of a political and strategic union."

"At the basis of the geopolitical construction of this [Eurasian] Empire, there must be placed one fundamental principle--the principle of 'a common enemy.' A negation of Atlanticism, a repudiation of the strategic control of the United States, and the rejection of the supremacy of economic, liberal market values--this represents the common civilizational basis, the common impulse which will prepare the way for a strong political and strategic union. (216). The anti-Americanism of the Japanese, "who remember well the nuclear genocide and the disgrace of political occupation," must be unleashed, as well as the fervent anti-Americanism of fundamentalist Muslim Iranians."

"We, conservatives, want a strong, solid State, want order and healthy family, positive values, the reinforcing of the importance of religion and the Church in society."

"In mathematics, it's not a game where the fastest wins. But rather, it's more like who can see farther, who can see deeper. That's the one who achieves more."

"Mathematics allows you to see the invisible."

"I was proud of my work with Yakov Isaevich, and he of me. Despite our good relationship, however, I kept my “other” mathematical life – my work with Fuchs and Feigin and all of that – secret from him as I did from most other people. It was as though applied mathematics was my spouse, and pure mathematics was my secret lover."

"We should all have access to the mathematical knowledge and tools needed to protect us from arbitrary decisions made by the powerful few in an increasingly math-driven world. Where there is no mathematics, there is no freedom."

"People tend to think that mathematicians always work in sterile conditions, sitting around and staring at the screen of a computer, or at a ceiling, in a pristine office. But in fact, some of the best ideas come when you least expect them, possibly through annoying industrial noise."

"... looking back, ... I have not hurt people personally, but ... I could be mean, for instance, I could be harsh. And now I see it as sign of weakness, as a sign of insecurity."

"... physics, one could say, is in sort of a crisis, in some sense, because of a current gap between the sophisticated theories, which come from applying sophisticated mathematics, and the actual universe. ... I think perhaps new ideas are needed, and I wouldn't be surprised if Witten is one those people who come up with those ideas."

"For the average North Korean over the last two decades, the times of Kim Il Sung have often been seen as a lost era of order and stability, in which everyone could be sure that twice a month they would receive food rations sufficient for survival, and essentially free of charge. This was also a time when corruption was kept under control and was largely invisible, material inequality was also almost unnoticeable. Objectively speaking, it was Kim Il Sung’s policies that made the disaster of the 1990s unavoidable. But this had little impact on public perception, and he continues to be held in high esteem by many. Remarkably, such sentiments toward the late Generalissimo are even expressed by refugees – not usually known for their sympathies for the North Korean system and its embodiment, the Kim family. Thus, it is that Kim Il Sung remains venerated, and due to the luck of dying in time, has a remarkably good reputation in death. The opposite is very much the case with his unfortunate son, Kim Jong Il, who inherited power in 1994 and reigned for 17 turbulent years, till 2011."

"The great famine of 1994-98 was to a large extent the inviolable result of the policies that Kim Il Sung had pursued for decades. The famine was brought about by Kim Il Sung’s fanatical belief in a hyper-centralized, state-managed agriculture, as well as an excessive reliance on (unacknowledged) foreign aid, not to mention militarization run amok. However, if the mine was planted (unintentionally, of course) by Kim Il Sung, it went off under the rule of his son. Hence, most North Koreans blame Kim Jong Il, rather than his father, for the economic disasters of the 1990s."

"North Koreans now understand that South Korea is very rich. It is true, but there is a great difference between vaguely understanding something and having such graphic images of neighbors' prosperity flooding your daily life. As is usually the case, such pictures are liable to be exaggerated at first. An outsider in a rich country usually cannot immediately see the contradictions, problems and tensions that exist behind the sparking, glistening, glitzy facade. For the North Koreans, this picture of the South Korean prosperity would likely be seen as vivid proof of the complete failure of their leadership. The North Korean elite cannot even use the usual trick of putting the blame at the doors of their predecessors: This elite is hereditary, so the buck cannot be easily passed."

"The unavoidable spread of South Korean capital and information will put the North Korean government in a tight spot, to put it mildly."

"The North Korean elite does have some sources of hope. The elite itself remains, on the surface at least, remarkably united. The lack of a civil society and very strong social control makes the emergence of resistance difficult."

"Right now, no sane and unbiased person would be so stupid as to doubt that the North Korean state is very repressive."

"If a North Korean university professor is suspected of insufficient enthusiasm for the system, they will be gone without a trace very quickly. Even the memory of the unlucky victim would likely disappear, since such topics are best not discussed in North Korea."

"North Korea is a problem, not only because of its fast advancing nuclear and missile program but also because of the sorry state of the country’s economy and its abysmal human rights record. It is a problem for us outsiders, but it is an even greater problem for the North Korean people themselves. As people are fond of saying in such situations that "something has to be done." But what exactly?"

"[T]here has been little, if any, doubt that nothing short of a massive regime collapse, or (even more violent and bloody) full-scale war, will ever produce a non-nuclear North Korea. The regime is run by cold-minded and rational people who cannot afford to be emotional..."

"Objectively speaking, the history of North Korean state has been one of an ambitious social if brutal experiment that ended in a very ugly disaster. Essentially, the 70 years of the Kim Family's rule have been the wasted years. The Kim family did not merely build one of the world’s most “perfect” Stalinist dictatorships, but also managed to transform into a basket case what once, in the 1940s, was the most advanced industrial economy of East Asia outside Japan. However, one should not expect that such a pessimistic, if honest, view of North Korea’s past, is going to be enthusiastically embraced by those North Koreans who bother to care about such matters."

"You can't think you can write a pop song with your left foot or with whatever hand but if there is a symphony you need to sit behind the table, to think. You need to think about the pop song. If you don't think about it then it turns out to be trash and vulgarity, of which there are plenty now on the air. And the second conclusion is this: if you like light music this is completely natural. For example, if I didn’t like light music I wouldn't have written the music for Anton Ivanovich Is Angry. But if you like only light music then you are a poor fellow."