Of course, my views developed in the course of time. But I have always believed in what I did and never acted against my conscience.

What would things been like [in Russia] if during periods of mass arrests people had not simply sat there, paling with terror at every bang on the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but understood they had nothing to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people?

... a man can safely sacrifice a great deal as long as he clings to the essential.

I leaf through the ancient philosophers and find my newest discoveries there.

If you live in a graveyard, you can't weep for everyone.

It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes... we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions - especially selfish ones.

Human beings yield in many situations, even important and spiritual and central ones, as long as it prolongs one's well-being.