The meaning of earthly existence lies not, as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering, but in the development of the soul...

Surely people should eventually cease to be surprised at anything? And yet they continue to be.

A great number of publications and movies on the history of the 20th century - albeit of uneven quality - are evidence of a growing demand. Quite recently, the state-owned TV channel 'Russia' aired a series based on Varlam Shalamov's works, showing the terrible, cruel truth about Stalin's camps. It was not watered down.

Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!

No one can bar the road to truth, and to advance its cause I am prepared to accept even death.

If... if... We didn't love freedom enough. And even more - we had no awareness of the real situation. We spent ourselves in one unrestrained outburst in 1917, and then we hurried to submit. We submitted with pleasure! ........... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.

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