480 Quotes About Russia

Es gibt wenige Orte, wo sich so viele trübe, starke, seltsame Momente, die auf die menschliche Seele wirken, vereinigt finden, wie in Petersburg.

The main misfortune, the root of all the evil to come, was the loss of confidence in the value of one’s own opinion. People imagined that it was out of date to follow their own moral sense, that they must all sing in chorus, and live by other people’s notions, notions that were being crammed down everybody’s throat.

[I]n every serious human idea that is conceived in someone’s head, there always remains something that cannot be conveyed to other people, even though whole volumes were written and your idea explained for thirty-five years; there will always remain something that is on no account willing to come out of your skull and will remain with you for ever; so that you will die without perhaps ever having conveyed to anyone the most important part of your idea.

Darwin's theory was received in Russia with profound sympathy. While in Western Europe it met firmly established old traditions which it had first to overcome, in Russia its appearance coincided with the awakening of our society after the Crimean War and here it immediately received the status of full citizenship and ever since has enjoyed widespread popularity.

Бабушки в Крыму радовались на камеру, сообщая, что они всю жизнь мечтали умереть в России. Теперь их мечта постепенно исполняется.

Bergson considered poetry to be born of intuition, and words that were “at first, only signals” are thus converted into instruments of art. Russian modernists treat words in much the same way

The risen Christ! Once morefaith is upon us, a jubilant brief keeningwith respite:Obedience, bitter joy,the elements, clouds,winds, louvres where the bellmakes its wild mouths:Holy Rus – into the rain’shorizons, peacock-dyed tail feathers of storm,so it goes on.

Бабушка Шура присела у окна посмотреть на дорогу. На проспект Ильича. В народе называли его Макшоссе.— Что это, Ирочка? Война? Немцы снова напали? Танки, Ирочка. Десять штук? Напали немцы?— Нет, — сухо сказала уставшая Ирочка.Наши танки? Учения?— Нет, — снова сказала дочь. — Не наши. Наших в городе нет.— Ну что ты тогда меня путаешь! — рассердилась бабушка Шура. — Если наших нет, а танки едут по Макшоссе, это значит фашисты. Опять фашисты. Что же это, Ирочка?

Появилась даже такая шутка: Украина — это страна, где люди говорят по-русски, а Россия — это страна, где люди молчат по-русски [141].