Quotes by Vladimir Sorokin - Page 1

Everyone in Russia must awaken the citizen within himself.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Citizens
Russia
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In Russia only those who are loyal to the people in power can become wealthy.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Loyal
People
Russia
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The Khodorkovsky case is typical of the "oprichnina" - the system of oppression.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Cases
Oppression
Typical
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The West should be even more vocal in insisting that the Russians respect human rights.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Rights
Should
West
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In Russia one can be as pure as can be and still lose everything in a flash and end up in prison.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Ends
Prison
Russia
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As a storyteller I was influenced by the Moscow underground, where it was common to be apolitical.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Common
Moscow
Storyteller
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The worst thing that can happen to Russia is indifference in the West - that is, if it were interested in nothing but oil and gas.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Oil
Russia
West
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I have Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin to thank that a Russian writer can not only write anything he wants, but also publish it.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Gorbachev
Want
Writing
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The bureaucracy has grown such powerful roots in Russia, and corruption is so widespread, that people from opposition have no interest in changing anything.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Powerful
Roots
Russia
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I ask myself whether Russia is moving in the direction of democracy. I don't believe it is! Bit by bit, Russia is slipping back into an authoritarian empire.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Believe
Moving
Russia
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I'm not a prophet or a teacher, I just ask questions. I don't think a writer should be a teacher, but should know how to pose the questions and explain the problems.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Teacher
Problem
Thinking
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As a child I perceived violence as a sort of natural law. In the totalitarian Soviet Union, oppression held everything together. It was the sinister energy of our country.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Children
Country
Law
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In Russia there are special people who are permitted to do anything. They are the sacrificial priests of power. Anyone who is not a member of this group has no clout with the state.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Groups
Russia
Special People
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The Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov once said: In a Democracy, portraits of a nation's leader should never exceed the size of a postage stamp. That won't happen so quickly in Russia.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Democracy
Leader
Russia
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Nothing has changed in Russia since Ivan the Terrible when it comes to the divide between the people and the state. The state demands a sacred willingness to make sacrifices from the people.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
People
Russia
Sacrifice
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Orthodox churches, autocracy and national traditions are supposed to form a new national ideology in Russia. This would mean that Russia would be overtaken by its past, and our past would be our future.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Mean
Past
Russia
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The citizen lives in each of us. In the days of Brezhnev, Andropov, Gorbachev and Yeltsin, I was constantly trying to suppress the responsible citizen in me. I told myself that I was, after all, an artist.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Artist
Citizens
Trying
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In Russia no one is surprised when an official accepts a bribe while at the same time portraying the state as some sacred entity to which the bourgeois should pay homage. This all sounds absurd. But for Russians it is completely normal.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Normal
Russia
Sound
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My television teaches me that everything was wonderful in the Soviet Union. According to the programs I watch, the KGB and apparatchiks were angels, and the Stalin era was so festive that the heroes of the day must still be celebrated today.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Angel
Hero
Kgb
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In Russia whenever you encounter a minor official, he lets you know that he is above you and that you depend on him. It is reflected in the superpower mentality that nourishes the Kremlin. An empire always demands sacrifices from its people.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
People
Russia
Sacrifice
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Germans, Frenchmen and Englishmen can say of themselves: "I am the state." I cannot say that. In Russia only the people in the Kremlin can say that. All other citizens are nothing more than human material with which they can do all kinds of things.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Citizens
People
Russia
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When I turn on the TV in Russia I see a general calmly claiming that our missiles are ahead of the latest American models by three five-year plans. It's a nightmare. We are creating a concept of the enemy, just as they did in the Soviet era. This is a giant step backward.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Creating
Russia
Years
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Putin likes to quote a sentence from Czar Alexander III, who said that Russian has only two allies - the army and the navy. As a citizen, this makes me sit up and take notice. This is a concept of self-imposed isolation, a defense strategy that sees Russia surrounded by enemies.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Army
Russia
Two
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The word "people" is unpleasant to me. The phrase "Soviet people" was drummed into us from childhood on. I love concrete people, enlightened people who live conscious lives and do not simply sit there and vegetate. To love the people you have to be the general secretary of the Communist Party or an absolute dictator.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Childhood
Party
People
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I am always surprised when I watch the weather report on German television. First they show the map of Europe and then the camera moves to the right. Then comes Kiev, then Moscow and then everything stops. This seems to be the West's view of us - of a wild Russia that begins past Moscow, a place one prefers not to see. This is a big mistake. The West must pay closer attention.
Vladimir Sorokin / Writer
Mistake
Moving
Past
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Vladimir Sorokin Quotes - Page 1

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