For a country to have a great writer is like having a second government. That is why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynI will tell you something else: it is a major responsibility not only of portraiture but of all human communication for each of us to help everyone else discover the best that is in him.
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynTo preserve his life, should a man pay everything that gives it color, scent and excitement?
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynWhat is an optimist? The man who says, "It's worse everywhere else. We're better off than the rest of the world. We've been lucky." He is happy with things as they are and he doesn't torment himself. What is a pessimist? The man who says, "Things are fine everywhere but here. Everyone else is better off than we are. We're the only ones who've had a bad break." He torments himself continually.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn