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Quote by Vasily Grossman

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Forever Flowing

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Vasily Grossman
Vasily Grossman

Vasily Grossman (December 12, 1905 – September 14, 1964) was a Soviet Jewish writer and journalist, best known for his works on World War II. Born in Berdychiv, Ukraine, he initially studied chemical engineering before turning to literature. As a war correspondent for the Red Star newspaper, he witnessed the Battle of Stalingrad and documented Nazi atrocities. His masterpiece, Life and Fate, was banned by Soviet authorities for its criticism of Stalinism and only published in the 1980s. Grossman's works explore themes of war, totalitarianism, and humanity, earning him recognition as a significant voice in 20th-century Russian literature. more

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“The claim that Hegel represents the culmination of metaphysics has had disastrous consequences, not because Hegel is a disaster, but because the reiteration of this claim has stood in the way of rethinking metaphysics. It is like a mesmerizing fetish whose bewitching spell we cannot break. Why are we in its spell? Precisely because of Hegel's greatness, and the great difficulty of thinking philosophically at a level comparable to Hegel's. We cannot surpass Hegel because Hegel surpasses us, and the seeming comprehensive system freezes us, or exhausts us, instead of freeing us. It does not have to be so.”

“Tamamen medenileşmiş insanların devlet sistemlerinin sınırları içinde yaşadığı ve öyle olmayanların (elbette bunlar Avrupa dışında yaşıyordu) aşağı derecedeki "insanımsı(!)" olan "kabile" toplumlarına ait oldukları kanaati, bütün Avrupa'da yaygındı. Bu inanç çeşitli biçimler aldı; hatta onlardan biri olan Hegelci düşünce o kadar ileri gitti ki adeta devleti mitleştirdi ve ona dört bir yana sirayet eden ahlaki bir yapı vasfı kazandırdı.”

“A ‘system’ is always something finite, limited, transitory, a too narrow framework for the infinite dialectical movement of the world, and even in the case of the great philosophies it was always their ‘system’ which most quickly became out of date; what remained of them was always the dialectical content which was often hidden in their work in spite of the ‘system’.”