255 Quotes by Svetlana Alexievich

Okay, maybe you could move the ones that were above the earth, but what about the ones who were in the earth -- the bugs and the worms? And the ones in the sky? How do you evacuate a pigeon or a sparrow? What do you do with them? We don't have any way of giving them, the necessary information. It's also a philosophical dilemma. A perestroika of our feelings is happening here.

There's one diagnosis for everything -- Chernobyl. No matter what happens, everyone says: Chernobyl. People get mad at us: "You're sick because you're afraid. You're sick from fear. Radiophobia." But then why do little kids get sick and die? They don't know fear, they don't understand it yet.

In my opinion -- we're the raw materials for a scientific experiment, for an international laboratory. There are ten million Bellarussians, and two million of us live on poisoned land. It's a huge devil's laboratory.

What should I do with my kid? I want to put him under my arm and get the hell out. But I have a Party card in my pocket. I can't do it.

I come home after everything -- my wife listens to me -- and then she says quietly, " I love you, but I won't let you have my son. I won't let anyone have him. Not Chernobyl, not Chechnya. Not anyone!" The fear has already settled into her.

Show me a fantasy novel about Chernobyl--there isn't one! Because reality is more fantastic.

C'est pour les villageois que j'éprouve le plus de pitié. Ils ont été des victimes innocentes, commes les enfants. Parce que Tchernobyl n'a pas été inventé par les paysans. Eux, ils avaient leurs propres relations avec la nature. Relations de confiance et non de conquête.

Měla Světlana Alexijevičová psát o hrůzách války? Ano! A má se matka zastat svého syna? Ano! No a mají se afghánští veteráni zastat svých kamarádů? Taky ano!

Kdyby tu neseděly matky těch vojáků, tak bych před tenhle soud nepřišla, přestože vím, že se mnou se nesoudí ony, ale bývalý režim. Myšlení není stranická legitimace, to do archivu neuložíte. Změnila se sice jména našich ulic, vývěsní štíty nad obchody i názvy novin, ale my jsme stále stejní. Ze socialistického tábora. Se starým lágrovým myšlením…