all large cities are alike at night.

Religion means a binding. If a man does not feel himself a part of the Universe, and does not hear its pulse, he is not religious. But once he has heard that pulse, he will be hearing it always. Every day his life will replenish itself from this inexhaustible source, eternal and powerful as the sun.

It is human nature that rules the world, not governments and regimes.

Go to meet destiny halfway and destiny will come to your assistance.

It became clear to the whole world that a totalitarian regime could neither accuse nor transform itself: suicide was not in its nature, it could only kill others.

For twenty-seven years I was witness to the spiritual deterioration of my own father, watching day after day how everything human in him left him and how gradually he turned into a grim monument to his own self.

I like old people, just as I like old trees: in their shadow there is freshness and peace, one admires them, and around them everything is so calm.