people-from-lviv

"I built on the sand And it tumbled down, I built on a rock And it tumbled down. Now when I build, I shall begin With the smoke from the chimney."

"Perhaps the Holy Father chose me because he knows that the Salesians are good with the most difficult boys, and there is work there."

"It is important not to stop praying now: this is the moment when prayer is our strongest weapon. We must believe in peace, invoke it in all possible ways and teach our young people who are experiencing the horror of war, the value of life."

"Сінокосна трава у корінні іще жива, але стеблами мертва не-боли-голова. Тратить кров зеленаву, не знає мовчати ні мовити. Позбуваючись мови, прибувають на силі слова.."

"We stopped digging deep long ago in this uncertain field of ours-yours because all kinds of junk can turn up: human bones, horses’ heads, unexploded mines"

"The death of these people will leave a gaping wound in our souls, in our culture, science, economy, industry and society. This is not a metaphor; I don’t know of any poetry that can heal this wound"

"Halyna Kruk has found a language to ingest violence and horror — blunt and eloquent, witty and aphoristic, her language is layered and electric as it takes on the daily dislocations of Russia’s barbaric war on Ukraine. Idiosyncratic and universal, these poems bring us necessary news as only poetry can."

"War shortens the distance from person to person, from birth to death."

"Although I have the mentality of Western Ukrainians, I love these people. I asked to be sent to eastern Ukraine, because I am a missionary; I am a Redemptorist, and our charism is to go to the people who are most abandoned. These people have very good and open hearts."

"We live in the world of total individualisms, which begets egocentrism. We tend to think that our omnipotence can defeat everything in this world. From the Scriptures we know a man a sociable person created by God. Christ was accompanied in His ministering by the disciples. We, on the contrary, are trying to set boundaries among us all."

"For our nation, this (2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine) is a struggle for our very existence. We don't have a choice. We must stay, we must fight (the Russians)."

"We have enough reserves and strength to withstand not only military but also economic, trade and energy aggression (from Russia). We have no economic reason for worsening situation, except for panic. We continue our active cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And today we welcome the start of yet another IMF mission in Ukraine."

"It will be a lot of refugees (if Russia invades Ukraine). It will be a disaster for Europe because this war is not only (in the) east of Ukraine. This war is going in (the) east of Europe. I am seriously saying."

"We hope to learn about defending against cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, defense against aerial and missiles attacks and the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). There is a great potential for future cooperation (with Israel)."

"Hide your loved ones (dear Russians) if they are dear to you. Don't send them (as Russian armed forces to attack Ukraine) to certain death. They will be killed (by the Ukrainian people) from every window in every Ukrainian city."

"We are all UPA soldiers and all underground fighters in particular, and I am aware that sooner or later we will have to die in the fight against brutal force. But I assure you, we will not be afraid to die, because when we die, we will be aware that we will become a fertilizer of the Ukrainian land. This is our native land that needs a lot of fertilizer so that in the future a new Ukrainian generation will grow up on it, which will complete what we were not destined to complete."

"The ancient roots of the Church of Kyiv here, on the shores of the gray Dnieper, produce a new sprout. We have been killed and crucified many times, but our roots are alive."

"It is a part of our Christian matrix, I believe this is who we are."

"You have all these choices at the supermarket and then you go to government, which is far more important than what brand of soda you drink, and you're told it's got to be Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn. To hell with that! I want my views and I want to live my life and you setting up this false alternative is completely unacceptable. I'm not playing this game."

"Here in 2016, when [Donald] Trump got elected, what happened as a consequence was blue-pilled leftists for a long time were taught that the Trump-world view [...] [was this minority]. 'We have sat you down for a year and told you that voting for Trump is completely unacceptable. That to do so is effectively to decree yourself to be aligned with the Klan and the nazis.' [one of the big newspapers] had a front page of Trump called antichrist when the Pope critizised him for something during when he was just merely a candidate. And yet [in November] Americans went in and flicked the leaver for Hitler-antichrist. And they didn't know what to do because in their mind there is very few of these lunatics and now there's enough to elect the president and because they're passing they didn't know who's the bad guy and the good guy. They thought '100 percent of the people I know', but obviously it's not 100. At best it's [60 percent]. So this was [...] a moment of panic: 'Wait a minute! I don't know who these people are anymore!'"

"I have no interest in reaching the general population. The general population are the people who would have been nazis in the 40s and they would have been jihadis or sympathetic in some of these other countries 20 years ago. So they will always follow the ruling class."

"Those who need leaders are not qualified to choose them."

"What are presented as the best arguments against anarchism are inevitably a description of the status quo."

"[About the Covid lockdowns:] Intentionally or not, some very very bad pepople got some very useful information of how much the populous was willing to put up with. [...] There was clearly a consideration on the parts of the authorities in each country about 'What can we do and what [can we] get away with?'"

"[About the framing of public figures in the media:] If you read a play, a lot of times at the beginning of the play there will be that cast of characters and it will say like 'Jane, a wealthy widow seeking love', 'Thomas, her young paramour'. When they bring a character onto the scene in a corporate news article, it will say 'Joe Rogan, a podcaster known for his history of transphobic remarks', 'Scott Adams, the disgraced...'. They will immediately tell you from their personal perspective how you should feel about this person before they even finish the sentence. And once you spot that this is the technique, you can't unsee it."

"The battle is won when the average American regards a corporate journalist exactly as they regard a tobacco executive. Once you realize that's what you're dealing with, everything falls into place. Okay, this guy wants to sell me cancer, he makes money selling me cancer, he knows he's selling me cancer. I'm not going to get him to say that [cigarettes] are cancer, but now I can proceed accordingly knowing that this is going to be about promoting [cigarettes] or parliaments or whatever it is."

"[On talking to political opponents:] Come at that conversation appreciating that what they're spouting now has become their identity and also has become their status. So you're asking them to give up something both that matters to them on an emotional and values level, but also from an evolutionary-psychology level."

"It's really amazing to me how many people [rather than trying to figure out Putin's endgame] are content to say that he's evil and he's crazy. OK. Sure. Well, the Penguin [in Batman] is evil. [...] He wants to get that diamond that is shaped like a bird or that really expensive umbrella. Just because someone is crazy or a bad person doesn't mean that they're not predictable or coherent along with their own internal logic. You know the Zodiac killer wants to kill people. It doesn't mean you have to agree with him or approve of him. OK, let's see if we can figure out who he's last victim is and what it's gonna take to find him."

"When you have a fundamentalist faith you are certain that you are on the side of the angels."

"What corporate media does, which is far more nefarious than the state, is simultaneously it will tell the audience 'These are the issues you should be concerned about today, and [even though we just learned about it five seconds ago] here's how you should think about it.' So very quickly it gives the person, who is often marginally intelligent both the concerns of the day, which is just kind of like a fashion issue, but also the answer so that not only do they look sympathetic and empathetic they also simultaneously seem informed. [...] If you go to [public places] and you hear how these people talk, you realize they are parroting [...] almost verbatim, if not verbatim, the people that they saw on their own screen [...] and when you have that epiphany you realize this kind of conservative model that 'We are just going to teach the population to respect people's rights and in a 100 years we are going to be free.' is really not a tenable one."

"If you're dealing with a journalist who you perceive as being engaged in good faith, and there's plenty of them, when you explain a particular view that you know is outside of their worldview, ask them to explain it back to you to see that they got what you meant. And if you have that on tape and they try to mis-characterize you, so much the better, now you have evidence that this was done maliciously."

"Frankly speaking, he did not say much to us about the front. I could guess about many things but don’t know exactly. He said he was rendering humanitarian aid and supported, as a volunteer, people with various needs. But it is clear that it was not the case. He didn’t want to discuss with me the details of his trips and comment on his attitude to the sides of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. He used to say: ‘I am where my friends, the people I trust, are.’ Only chevrons could reveal where he went to.(2017)"

"He worked very actively in the last year of his life. Everybody says he was at the peak of his career in 2016. He had an enormous number of concerts to give from September 2015 to May 2016.(2017)"

"They are saying now that Vasyl Slipak was a Ukrainian patriot, a nationalist… He undoubtedly was, but not in the sense that dominates in our society! I’ve never seen him show a prejudicial attitude to other peoples. It would have been absurd to hear this from his mouth. A European person, he performed both in Europe and in Africa and received a warm welcome everywhere.(2017)"

"Even more! He had a unique talent for languages and did not have to learn any. He never did any courses! When he came back from France, he spoke French. He would quickly learn the language of any country he came to – Polish, Spanish, German, Russian… This came very easily to him. He never spent as much time to learn a language as, for example, I did. I envied my brother in this case. Moreover, he not only spoke nut also wrote. The French praised his French very much. His ear for music must have helped him. Besides, he had a good natural memory. Hence were his broad communication and a career growth.(2017)"

"Because he used to sing all the time and something was to be done with this. Vasyl was already 12, and I told parents that if the boy did not study seriously, he would waste his talent. Dudaryk was a very high standard at the time. Although the brother was formally too ‘old’ to qualify, he adapted quickly and easily became part of the team. Yes. Then he became a soloist, sang in concerts, particularly, with such celebrities as Dmytro Hnatiuk, Nina Matviienko, and other stars. Choir director Mykola Katsal was doing his utmost for each of the children. The choir provided not only a musical, but also a general education, and the children received true development. Vasyl became well known still at Dudaryk after singing solo in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Then was Pierrot’s Deathly Loops by Oleksandr Kozarenko. The composer had written something futuristic and could not finish his opus. But he heard Vasyl’s voice when the latter was rehearsing in the Lviv Conservatoire’s classroom. Oleksandr came in and understood that he was composing for this very singer. The premiere was staged first in Lviv and then at festivals in Kyiv and Odesa. Thereafter, no major national festivals in Ukraine were held without Vasyl.(2017)"

"You know, he learned continuously! He took lessons even at age 42. He did it meticulously, without being ashamed or considering himself a star that can rest on his laurels. He had a need for self-improvement.(2017)"

"Despite having a successful artistic career (Slipak lived in France for the last 19 years of his life and worked as a soloist at the Paris Opera), he did not stay aloof to the hardships that our country was going through when the war started. He managed to juggle volunteer work and performing in plays and concerts at first, brought humanitarian aid himself, and in summer 2015, he put a successful career on hold and went to defend the country in the ranks of the Right Sector volunteer battalion. In particular, he fought the forces of the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ in Pisky... Slipak was a patriot, an excellent singer, and an example to all Ukrainians. (2017)"

"You know, in his last six months Vasyl had changed a lot. Many tried to talk him out of going to the war, but he was adamant. All his money and all his energy he gave to the cause of the new Ukraine. It was his motivation in life. What a shame that a sharpshooter’s bullet took the life of terrific vocalist and patriot. Our duty is to remember Vasyl Slipak. I want to join my Ukrainian colleagues to discuss some future art projects. We already had a meeting with Volodymyr Syvokhip, director of the Lviv Philharmonic Society, and we plan to hold a Vasyl Slipak Open International Memorial Music Marathon in Lviv from June 29 till July 1. (2017)"

"Vasyl’s unique voice extremely harmoniously combined with his physique. He was a tall man of attractive appearance and unfailing courtesy, and it all prompted adequate response from the audience. Above all, he emphasized schooling, culture and high technique of singing! Our country has lost a talented artist who sacrificed his international career to defend the nation for which he gave his life. “My task is to make sure that Vasyl is not forgotten, and therefore we will definitely hold a memorial festival at the Lviv Philharmonic Society from June 29 to July 1. (2017)"

"He was really successful, he had very many concerts in Paris. In music circles everyone knew him. I believe that in about five years he would have become a hugely famous singer, because he was getting more and more invitations as an artist. I never saw him in a bad mood, he radiated positive emotions even if things were not going best. Meanwhile, it was not always easy for him, there were various situations concerning his career or money. When we were working on concert programs, he acted very professionally. We had a great relationship as colleagues. We knew and sensed each other well. Also, sometimes we had very personal conversations. (2017)"

"[He's] more than a colleague, more than a friend. I feel him like a brother. A man who loved every culture, you know, an open minded man."

"I would like to say that many French people from various walks of life hardly knew anything about Ukraine before the events on Maidan. Thanks to Vasyl Slipak, an opera singer, they became interested in your country, they watched televised reports. There also was an extensive publication about him in France’s most popular daily Le Monde, which awoke a wide response. It was some seven or eight years ago. We were acquainted by my friend, an interesting composer Yevhen Halperin (his father comes from Kyiv), a friend of Vasyl. They lived in the same house in Paris, but on different floors. At a party at Halperin’s place he said, ‘This guy has a unique voice, just listen.’ I was impressed by Vasyl’s talent and offered him to take part in our concerts. We performed Requiems by Verdi and Mozart back then, later we had some 10 to 15 programs together. We had successful opera gala evenings, and we were planning to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, but it wasn’t to be. (2017)"

"Vasyl was supposed to become my vocal adviser in my future project. For three years Slipak was a soloist at the Grand Opera. He got solo parts, but he also wanted to have concert practice, that is why he chose a sort of freelance. Mind you, when the war in the east of Ukraine broke out, his vocal career was on the rise. Characteristically, Vasyl did not give up his career, he would be active as a volunteer, then he would return from Ukraine to France to give concerts and appear in performances, and then again he would go to Ukraine, which he loved above all. And then again more concerts, and again back to the front. (2017)"

"Mother once said our grandfather Vasyl, after whom my brother was named, had sung very well and been a very interesting person in general. So it is believed that Vasyl inherited his talent. He supposedly had a unique voice.(2017)"

"He was a brilliant singer and a brilliant person. Vasyl Slipak could never stay aside the injustice. When he decided to go to Ukraine, I tried to persuade him to remain in France, just willing to defend him from potential threat. But he insisted Ukraine needed him more than French opera."

"But that all changed in 2014, when Russia invaded the Ukraine. Slipak left the opera and joined as a volunteer with the free Ukrainian forces, fighting in the eastern Ukraine, carrying a belt-fed machine gun and adopting the nom de guerre "Meph" based on his highly praised renditions of the aria "Mephistopheles" from the opera "Faust." He adopted a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle, similar to a Mohawk, and served at various positions along the front lines in a maze of Russian minefields and trenches. Along the way, he became a folk hero to the Ukrainian people. It can truly be said that while the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Ukraine became a separate country, its real independence dates from Maidan Square, and Wassyl Slipak is a national hero for giving up an incredible career and the luxury of celebrity and fame to help make that possible."

"Finally he decided to go to the frontlines because he needed to feel useful and to defend his country — it was so important for him. It's about the culture. It's not really about politics. It's about the freedom of his country."

"He never stopped to sing, never. It's about resistance. It's not about to be a soldier. He is a singer who decided to defend his country — that's all."

"Amid the thud of artillery and rattle of gunfire, Vasyl Slipak’s deep, resonant voice in the trenches of eastern Ukraine was a warm reminder of humanity’s less barbaric traits. The professional baritone had left his native Ukraine in the 1990s to settle in France, where he regularly sang at the Paris Opera. But after war erupted in 2014, he decided to return home and join a volunteer battalion to fight Russian-backed separatists on the country’s eastern front."