“Ah, the Russians… While I was still living in Prague, the following anecdote went round about the Russian soul: a Czech man seduces a Russian woman with devastating speed. After intercourse, the Russian woman says to him with boundless contempt: 'You had my body. But you'll never have my soul!' A splendid anecdote.” SoulRussiansAnecdoteRussian Soul Book:Immortality Source: Immortality
“Then there were times when Vassy compulsively yet touchingly would get very drunk and break down in great heaving sobs when we got home. No one could possibly understand what it meant to be a 'fucking Russian in America,' he sobbed. 'My fucking country, my beloved Russia,' he would cry. 'No one understands my country. You judge us, you condemn us, you believe we have swords in our teeth. You're so conditioned, so brainwashed, even more than we are. At least Russians know about America, not only bad things. And you here imagine Russia as a concentration camp! You don't like Commies! That's your problem. Now I hear Americans think 'Russian' is the same as evil, stupidity, idleness. That's dangerous! What about our culture, our music, our ingenuity, our patience, endurance--these are qualities, not drawbacks! Yes, we are fucking different, why not? Why should we be the same? Instead of trying to change each other, why don't we simply tolerate our differences and enjoy similarities?” RussiansRussian CultureRussian SoulRusso American Relations Book:Dancing in the Light Source: Dancing in the Light
“I am stubborn," he had said once, 'or how you call "obstinate," then you must hit me. Hit me hard. Russians need to be hit. We only understand to be hit. We need a big fist, I can tell you.” Russian CultureRussian Soul Book:Dancing in the Light Source: Dancing in the Light
“I read many books on Russian artists, writers, philosophers, and musicians in an attempt to understand [Vassy, her partner]. I seemed to be concluding that the Russian himself was saying 'We are not to be understood.' It was maddeningly challenging to me. I didn't like not understanding...at least to my satisfaction. Half savage, half saint. That seemed to be the consensus of opinion among the Russians themselves. The communist government appeared to be irrelevant, merely a continuation in a different form of a system which basically denied the importance of the individual. Vassy had told me in the beginning that the Russian people had the government they needed and understood, and in many respects he even claimed they would want Joe Stalin back because he would, in effect, protect them from themselves.” Russian GovernmentRussian CultureRussian Soul Book:Dancing in the Light Source: Dancing in the Light
“Es gibt wenige Orte, wo sich so viele trübe, starke, seltsame Momente, die auf die menschliche Seele wirken, vereinigt finden, wie in Petersburg.” RussiaPlaceRussian LiteraturePlaces Of The WorldRussian PoetryRussian Soul Author:Dostojewski, Fjodor