Quotessence
Home / Topics / Russia Quotes

Russia Quotes

Browse 1675 quotes about Russia.

Related topics

IfsPeopleStatesCountryWorldThinkingChinaAmericaWantUnitedKnowsWarUnited StatesEuropePutinYearsSovietWayInterestWellsShouldWestUkraineBelieveHas BeensTrumpGovernmentNeedsMenSaidFirstsGermanyIranPoliticalDoePresidentProblemStillsNuclearImportantMeanRelationEndsTodayUnionsFightingFunnyNationsTwoWould BeFactsNatoDemocracyTryingDifferentJapanPolicySecurityHumorousLooksMadeSoviet RussiaSyriaClintonRealWeaponsKindMightCommunistDoneEconomicFranceIdeasMillionsUseBigsEasternGivingLeaderMatterMovingPartyRememberSoviet UnionWholeAlliesCultureEastMayMoscowThreatTogetherAbleCoursesDifficultEconomyElectionEnglandEnoughFeelsmore

Russia Quotes

“Most of what I read is for reviewing purposes or related to something I want to write about. It's slightly utilitarian. I definitely miss that sense of being a disinterested reader who's reading purely for the pleasure of imagining his way into emotional situations and vividly realized scenes in nineteenth-century France or late nineteenth-century Russia.”

WayWantWritingPurposeReadingPleasureSituationCenturyMissingEmotionalReaderSceneLateRussiaFranceRelatedNineteenth CenturyDisinterestedUtilitarian
Author:Pankaj Mishra
Create image

“Many politicians in the West cling to the notion of a partnership with Russia. They want to include [Vladimir] Putin, make compromises and constantly negotiate new deals with him. But history has taught us that the longer we pursue appeasement and do nothing, the higher the price will be later on. Dictators don't ask "Why?" before they seize even more power. They ask: "Why not?"”

WantAsksDealsTaughtHigherPoliticianWestNotionRussiaPursueCompromiseWhy NotPartnershipDictatorPutinTaught UsNew DealAppeasement
Author:Garry Kasparov
Create image

“When [Vladimir] Putin, a former lieutenant-colonel in the KGB, became Russia's president on December 31, 1999 - eight years after the failed coup attempt against (then Soviet leader Mikhail) Gorbachev, and eight years after the people had torn down the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the hated founder of the KGB, in Moscow - it was admittedly a shock. Nevertheless, I decided to give Putin a chance. He seemed dynamic and capable of learning. But I had to bury my hopes after just a few months. He proved to be an autocrat - and, because the West let him do as he pleased, he became a dictator.”

PeopleGivingYearsPresidentChanceLeaderMonthsCapableDecidedWestEightRussiaFormerHatedShockSovietDictatorFoundersNeverthelessTornStatuesPutinDecemberMoscowColonelsCoupsLieutenantsKgbGorbachev
Author:Garry Kasparov
Create image

“I wouldn't place much stock in numbers. I don't believe that they reflect Putin's true popularity. Just think about how the pollsters proceed. They call people and they ask them questions on the street. In today's Russia, it takes a lot of courage to tell a stranger something critical about the head of the Kremlin. And yet more than 20 percent do so nonetheless.”

PeopleThinkingBelieveTodayAsksNumbersStreetsPercentDon't BelieveStrangerCriticalRussiaPopularityPutinKremlin
Author:Garry Kasparov
Create image

“Boris Nemtsov and I began to argue after Putin's return to the presidency in 2012. In my opinion, there was no longer a realistic chance to achieve regime change through peaceful political means, or real elections. Boris, on the other hand, never lost this hope. He felt that my assessment was premature and said: "You have to live a long time to see changes in Russia." He was deprived of that opportunity.”

MeanLongSaidRealHandsPoliticalOpportunityLostFeltChanceOpinionAchieveReturnLong TimeElectionArguingRussiaPeacefulRealisticRegimesPresidencyDeprivedPutinAssessmentPrematureRegime Change
Author:Garry Kasparov
Create image

“During part of 1941 and 1942, when the Luftwaffe was busy in Russia, the German radio regaled its home audience with stories of devastating air raids on London. Now, we are aware that those raids did not happen. But what use would our knowledge be if the Germans conquered Britain? For the purpose of a future historian, did those raids happen, or didn't they? The answer is: If Hitler survives, they happened, and if he falls they didn't happen.”

IfsStoriesUseHomeHappensPurposeFallAnswersAudienceHappenedAirBusyRadioLondonRussiaBritainHistorian
Book:The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: As I please, 1943-1945
Create image

“What I found interesting about Slava Fetisov was that he went through three different generations of Soviet hockey. In the late 70's, he experienced the Miracle on Ice, and then in the 80's became with his teammates the Russian Five, the most dominant team in the history of hockey, and then helped bring down the hockey system when the Soviet Union collapsed and became one of the first players to play in the NHL, and then ultimately came back to Russia.”

FirstsDifferentPlayThreeFoundInterestingFivePlayerGenerationsTeamLateMiracleUnionsRussiaIceHockeySovietDominantSoviet UnionTeammateNhlDifferent Generations
Author:Gabe Polsky
Create image

“Our institutions and conditions rest upon deep-seated ideas. To change those conditions and at the same time leave the underlying ideas and values intact means only a superficial transformation, one that cannot be permanent or bring real betterment. It is a change of form only, not of substance, as so tragically proven by Russia.”

MeanIdeasRealFormValuesConditionsTransformationInstitutionsRussiaSubstancePermanentProvenSuperficialBetterment
Book:My Disillusionment in Russia
Create image

“The Soviet Union came apart along ethnic lines. The most important factor in this breakup was the disinclination of Slavic Ukraine to continue under a regime dominated by Slavic Russia. Yugoslavia came apart also, beginning with a brutal clash between Serbia and Croatia, here again 'nations' with only the smallest differences in genealogy; with, indeed, practically a common language. Ethnic conflict does not require great differences; small will do.”

DoeImportantLanguageNationsDifferencesLinesCommonConflictUnionsRussiaFactorsBreakupSovietRegimesBrutalSmallestSoviet UnionUkraineClashEthnic ConflictGenealogySerbiaYugoslaviaCommon LanguageCroatia
Author:Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Create image

“It must be understood that there are no nominal, halfhearted, lukewarm Christians in Russia or China. The price Christians pay is far too great. The next point to remember is that persecution has always produced a better Christian - a witnessing Christian, a soul-winning Christian. Communist persecution has backfired and produced serious, dedicated Christians such as are rarely seen in free lands. These people cannot understand how anyone can be a Christian and not want to win every soul they meet.”

PeopleWantSoulChristianRememberNextWinningPayLandSeriousUnderstoodChinaRussiaCommunistDedicatedPersecutionLukewarmSoul Winning
Author:Richard Wurmbrand
Create image

“Dictatorship nations are outlaws. Any free nation had the right to invade Nazi Germany and, today, has the right to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba, or any other slave pen. Whether a free nation chooses to do so or not is a matter of its own self-interest, not of respect for the nonexistent 'rights' of gang rulers. It is not a free nation's duty to liberate other nations at the price of self-sacrifice, but a free nation has the right to do it, when and if it so chooses.”

IfsSelfMatterTodayNationsInterestRightsSacrificeDutySlaveRussiaGermanyPensSovietRulersDictatorshipNaziGangSelf InterestCubaSelf SacrificeOutlawNazi GermanySoviet Russia
Author:Ayn Rand
Create image