I cannot suggest political ways out, that is the task of politicians, so it is simply that those who accuse me of this do not know how to read.

But nothing is all black in nature.

Gorbachev's administration was amazingly politically naïve, inexperienced and irresponsible towards the country. It was not governance but a thoughtless renunciation of power. The admiration of the West in return only strengthened his conviction that his approach was right. But let us be clear that it was Mikhail Gorbachev, and not Boris Yeltsin, as is now widely being claimed, who first gave freedom of speech and movement to the citizens of Russia.

There is no point asserting and reasserting what the heart cannot believe.

In every life there is one particular event that is decisive for the entire person-for his fate, his convictions, his passions.

Not all of me shall die.

When we feel that we are not sufficiently respected, we should ask ourselves whether we are living as we should.