A fish does not campaign against fisheries-it only tries to slip through the mesh.

To stand up for truth is nothing. For truth, you must sit in jail.

On our crowded planet there are no longer any internal affairs!

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.

You get no thanks from your belly-it always forgets what you've just done for it and comes begging again the next day.

An opposition is necessary and desirable for the healthy development of any country. You can scarcely find anyone in opposition, except for the communists, just like in Yeltsin's times. It is regrettable that there is still no constructive, clear and large-scale opposition in Russia. The growth and development of an opposition, as well as the maturing of other democratic institutions, will take more time and experience.

A drop in the ocean has no fear of a hurricane.