480 Quotes About Russia

The fundamental principle of Nihilism, properly so-called, was absolute individualism. It was the negation, in the name of individual liberty, of all the obligations imposed upon the individual by society, by family life, and by religion. Nihilism was a passionate and powerful reaction, not against political despotism, but against the moral despotism that weighs upon the private and inner life of the individual.

Both Bratva and thieves in law would like to call themselves nihilists and anarchists because they don’t support the established government, but they govern nonetheless, and you can’t be an anarchist unless you follow its rule. Crime and anarchy are no more synonymous than nihilism and existentialism, or fatalism and determinism; so many isms there was bound to be a schism.

The fundamental principle of the Russian government has always been the autocratic ruler who combines all legislative and executive powers and disposes of all the nation's resources.

On December 9, 1994, Yeltsin issued a statement ordering the Federal army to execute the disarmament of all illegal armed units in Chechnya, or as they were known locally, the government.

One story that circulated about (U.S. Minister to Russia Charles S.) Todd concerned his conversation with a lady-in-waiting at an Imperial reception in the Winter Palace. In his bad French with a Kentucky accent, he mispronounced the word for year, so that an explanation of his travels came out: "I was an ass in Paris, part of an ass in London, almost an ass in Germany, and I am two asses here." To which the lady reportedly responded, "And you will be an ass wherever you go.

[Peter the Great] also wanted women to take off their veils and mingle with men at social gatherings. He even wanted them to have tutors and be educated like men.

Один мудрий американець казав, що можна довго обманювати небагатьох людей, можна недовго обманювати багатьох, але не можна безкінечно обманювати всіх. Він помилявся. Наша практика показала, що всіх якраз можна обманювати без кінця. Обманутих можна було б і пожаліти, але вони, обманюючись самі, готові признати ворогами тих, хто обману не піддається [92].

I was not extremely patriotic about Mother Russia. I played their game, pretending. You have to deal with, you know, party people, KGB. Horrifying.

As you see, the point is not which class today constitutes the majority, or which class is poorer, but which class is gaining strength and which is decaying.