Should one point out that from ancient times decline in courage has been considered the beginning of the end?
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynHuman beings yield in many situations, even important and spiritual and central ones, as long as it prolongs one's well-being.
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynWe are so attached to the earth, and yet we are incapable of holding onto it.
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynYes, you live with your feet in the mud and there's no time to be thinking about how you got in or how you're going to get out.
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynOn the way from the Renaissance to our days we have enriched our experience, but we have lost the concept of a Supreme Complete Entity which used to restrain our passions and our irresponsibility. We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life. In the East, it is destroyed by the dealings and machinations of the ruling party. In the West, commercial interests tend to suffocate it. This is the real crisis.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn