Non Fiction Authors From Russia

"The problem is not the lack of freedom, it is on the contrary the excess of freedom! We're stuffed with it! (p. 36)"

"To feel life, to truly experience it, you must, of course, be in it. But to know it, it is necessary, above all, to move away from it at a sufficient distance. Otherwise, you have no overall vision, you cannot distinguish its essential features, its dynamics, its aims. 397"

"I therefore affirm that, to understand our society, our dialectical method is necessary, while that of the West, non-dialectical, is of no use. But be careful: I am not talking about “dialectics” in the sense given to it by Soviet philosophies – starting with Stalin in his Dialectical and Historical Materialism; I am talking about this ability to take into account all the complexity and changing nature of formations such as our gigantic society. Ah! I'm itching to describe this method! But by giving it the efficiency, the practical sense of the Western style of thinking. Is it possible ? Who knows, perhaps the most suitable forms are born from these unthinkable compromise. p. 353"

"It is, in principle, impossible to understand our life and our mental functioning if we are not a dialectician. However, dialectics is fundamentally foreign to Western man, whether he is a “thinker” or not. p. 353"

"The one-party system does not come from an error or bad design, it is, on the contrary, perfectly normal, because our society does not have ONE party, it is WITHOUT a party. p. 115-116"

"A pluralist system under a communist regime is an absurdity. The parties would immediately go to war, and one of them would win (or the country would divide into “independent” states). p. 115"

"The Party is the organization of leaders, in the strongest sense of the term and for leaders of all orders. It is, fundamentally, an organ of repression, and not just the place of production of slogans and speeches. Our party is not one, in the sense in which it was understood before the revolution, or in the Western sense of the term. It only has the name. It's not the party, it's the Party. And its role is quite different in the life of society (it is power, privileges). p. 115"

"The whole problem, currently, is to have a method of understanding, says the Fool. People have information in spades, but they are incapable of extracting truths that matter. They are content to live at a superficial level of very primary observation and generalization. No one is capable of deepening their analysis to the essential mechanisms of what is happening. However, such deepening obeys rules, which are not very complicated. 117"

"This is only a description of the facts. However, this is not the truth, since there will undoubtedly be other facts whose description will contradict this one. The truth is not in the juxtaposition of this type of writing. What opposes the truth is not another truth, but error. p. 89"

"La Maison jaune, Alexandre Zinoviev (trad. Anne Coldefy-Faucard et Wladimir Berelowitch), éd. Julliard/L'Age d'Homme, 1982, en 2 tomes"

"Which means that we are seriously mistaken when we hope to see science play a role as an instrument of progress and civilization."

"The scientific spirit is relegated to the pitiful role of an inferior attribute. However, we support it to the extent that it can serve as an alibi for the anti-scientific spirit. But, above all, we try to dismiss it as a kind of unbearable reproach for a guilty conscience. p. 287"

"The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has a long history of canonizing Russian military figures of the past, but its decision to begin the canonization process for Aleksandr Suvorov is deepening the divide between Russians and non-Russians against whom he carried out acts of genocide, Kharun (Vadim) Sidorov says."

"One cannot think that blind bravery gives victory over the enemy."

"The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a fine chap."

"The bullet is a mad thing; only the bayonet knows what it is about."

"Train hard, fight easy."

"Win with ability, not with numbers."

"No battle can be won in the study, and theory without practice is dead."

"The three military arts. First - Apprehension, how to arrange things in camp, how to march, how to attack, pursue, and strike; for taking up position, final judgement of the enemy's strength, for estimating his intentions. Second - Quickness... This quickness doesn't weary the men. The enemy doesn't expect us, reckons us 100 versts away, and if a long way off to begin with - 200, 300 or more - suddenly we're on him, like snow on the head; his head spins. Attack with what comes up, with what God sends; the cavalry to begin, smash, strike, cut off, don't let slip, hurra! Brothers do miracles! Third - Attack. Leg supports leg. Arm strengthens arm; many men will die in the volley; the enemy has the same weapons, but he doesn't know the Russian bayonet. Extend the line - attack at once with cold steel; extend the line without stopping... the Cossacks to get through everywhere... In two lines is strength; in three, half as much again; the first breaks, the second drives into heaps, the third overthrows."

"It is very difficult to do one's duty. I was considered a barbarian because at the storming of the Praga 7,000 people were killed. Europe says that I am a monster. I myself have read this in the papers, but I would have liked to talk to people about this and ask them: is it not better to finish a war with the death of 7,000 people rather than to drag it on and kill 100,000."

"The officers know that I myself am not ashamed to work at this. ...Suvorov was Major, and Adjutant, and everything down to Corporal; I myself looked into everything and could teach everybody."

"To me death is better than the defensive."

"If we had not driven them into hell... hell would have swallowed us."

"Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks."

"Drill your soldiers well, and give them a pattern yourself."

"Exercises cultivated self-reliance - the foundation of courage."

"A strong pursuit, give no time for the enemy to think, take advantage of victory, uproot him, cut off his escape route."

"Fire opens the gates of victory."

"The more comfort the less courage there is."

"Die for the Virgin, for your mother the Empress, for the royal family. The Church will pray to God for the dead. The survivor has honor and glory."

"When the enemy is driven back, we have failed, and when he is cut off, encircled and dispersed, we have succeeded."

"Accustom yourself to tireless activity..."

"One minute decides the outcome of a battle, one hour the success of a campaign, one day the fate of empires."

"Fortune seized at the right moment gives victory."

"As long as the enemy fights he must be beaten relentlessly, but a defeated enemy and especially the civilian population must be treated generously."

"To surprise the enemy is to defeat him."

"Judgment of eye, speed and attack are the basis of victory."

"Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy, commanders and political instructirs, men and women guerillas, the whole world is looking towards you as a force capable of destroying the plundering hordes of German robbers. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen beneath the yoke of the German robbers look towards you as their liberators. A great liberating mission has fallen to your lot. Be worthy of that mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the heroic images of our great forefathers - Aleksandr Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Aleksandr Suvarov and Mikhail Kutuzov - inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your lodestar!"

"Even a dickhead would do a better job than Ilyumzhinov. The chaos in the chess world is caused by “leaders” who are unable to do their job properly."

"My relations with Korchnoi depend on whether he has slept well. If he had bad dreams, he speaks a lot of rubbish."

"People knew about 110 years of chess history. Nowadays, nobody is able to tell you the name of the world champion of 2000."

"Seville never had a rich chess tradition. Valencia is entirely different, it is enough to say that one of the city squares is named after me."

"If you want to become a World Champion you should avoid playing in Open tournaments."

"And I saw another man. Tired and lame he dragged himself along the dusty road, across the deserted plain under the scorching rays of the sun. He glanced sidelong with foolish, staring eyes, a half smile, half leer on his face; he knew not where he went, but was absorbed in his chimerical dreams which ran constantly in the same circle. His fool's cap was put on wrong side front, his garments were torn in the back; a wild lynx with glowing eyes sprang upon him from behind a rock and buried her teeth in his flesh. He stumbled, nearly fell, but continued to drag himself along, all the time holding on his shoulder a bag containing useless things, which he, in his stupidity, carried wherever he went. Before him a crevice crossed the road and a deep precipice awaited the foolish wanderer. Then a huge crocodile with open mouth crawled out of the precipice. And I heard the voice say:-- "Look! This is the same man." I felt my head whirl."

""What has he in the bag?" I inquired, not knowing why I asked. And after a long silence the voice replied: "The four magic symbols, the sceptre, the cup, the sword and the pentacle. The fool always carries them, although he has long since forgotten what they mean. Nevertheless they belong to him, even though he does not know their use. The symbols have not lost their power, they retain it in themselves."

"When I lifted the first veil and entered the outer court of the Temple of Initiation, I saw in half darkness the figure of a woman sitting on a high throne between two pillars of the temple, one white, and one black. Mystery emanated from her and was about her. Sacred symbols shone on her green dress; on her head was a golden tiara surmounted by a two-horned moon; on her knees she held two crossed keys and an open book. Between the two pillars behind the woman hung another veil all embroidered with green leaves and fruit of pomegranate. And a voice said: "To enter the Temple one must lift the second veil and pass between the two pillars. And to pass thus, one must obtain possession of the keys, read the book and understand the symbols. Are you able to do this?" "I would like to be able," I said."

"Then the woman turned her face to me and looked into my eyes without speaking. And through me passed a thrill, mysterious and penetrating like a golden wave; tones vibrated in my brain, a flame was in my heart, and I understood that she spoke to me, saying without words: "This is the Hall of Wisdom. No one can reveal it, no one can hide it. Like a flower it must grow and bloom in thy soul. If thou wouldst plant the seed of this flower in thy soul — learn to discern the real from the false. Listen only to the Voice that is soundless... Look only on that which is invisible, and remember that in thee thyself, is the Temple and the gate to it, and the mystery, and the initiation.""

"An unexpected vision appeared to me. A circle not unlike a wreath woven from rainbow and lightnings, whirled from heaven to earth with a stupendous, velocity, blinding me by its brilliance. And amidst this light and fire I heard music and soft singing, thunderclaps and the roar of a tempest, the rumble of falling mountains and earthquakes. The circle whirled with a terrifying noise, touching the sun and the earth, and, in the centre of it I saw the naked, dancing figure of a beautiful young woman, enveloped by a light, transparent scarf, in her hand she held a magic wand. Presently the four apocalyptical beasts began to appear on the edges of the circle; one with the face of a lion, another with the face of a man, the third, of an eagle and the fourth, of a bull."

"The vision disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. A weird silence fell on me. "What does it mean?" I asked in wonder. "It is the image of the world," the voice said, "but it can be understood only after the Temple has been entered. This is a vision of the world in the circle of Time, amidst the four principles. But thou seest differently because thou seest the world outside thyself. Learn to see it in thyself and thou wilt understand the infinite essence, hidden in all illusory forms. Understand that the world which thou knowest is only one of the aspects of the infinite world, and things and phenomena are merely hierolgyphics of deeper ideas.""