Political dissident

Explore 9 quotes by Political dissidents

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Gulag Archipelago

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Topic

Duality of man Good and evil

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

The Gulag Archipelago

Genre

Political literature Historical literature

Language

Russian

Time

1973 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. Архипелаг ГУЛАГ, Arkhipelag GULAG [The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation]. Vol. 1, YMCA-Press, 1973.

A society based on the letter of the law and never reaching any higher fails to take advantage of the full range of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes man’s noblest impulses.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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Topic

Legalism Laws of physics

Speaker

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Medium

Speech

Genre

Commencement address

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Alexander I. "A World Split Apart." Commencement cermony. 8 June 1978, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.

Václav Havel

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Topic

Modern life

Author

Václav Havel

Medium

Letter

Language

Czech

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Havel, Vaclav. Letter to Olga Havlova. 5 Oct. 1981.

In our village, folk say God crumbles up the old moon into stars.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

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Topic

Stars The moon The night sky

Speaker

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Medium

Novel

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Folk wisdom

Language

Russian

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. "Один день Ивана Денисовича [One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]." Novy Mir, Nov. 1962.

There was peace in their hearts. They were filled with the fearlessness of those who have lost everything, the fearlessness which is not easy to come by but which endures.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

In the First Circle

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Topic

Fearlessness

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

In the First Circle

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksander. В круге первом [In the First Circle]. Collins & Harvill Press/‎Harper & Row, 1968, ch. 87.

You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything he's no longer in your power-he's free again.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

In the First Circle

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Topic

Nothing to lose Freedom Oppression Desperation Liberation

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

In the First Circle

Medium

Novel

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Russian

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksander. В круге первом [In the First Circle]. Collins & Harvill Press/‎Harper & Row, 1968, ch. 17.

The only substitute for an experience we ourselves have never lived through is art, literature.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Nobel Prize Lecture

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Topic

Power of art Power of literature

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

Nobel Prize Lecture

Medium

Speech

Language

Russian

Time

1972 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. Nobel Lecture in Literature. 1970, Swedish Academy, Stockholm, Sweden.

You can't spend your whole life criticizing something and then when you have the chance to do it better refuse to go near it.

Václav Havel

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Topic

Political progress Political courage Progress Courage Politics

Author

Václav Havel

Source

To the Castle and Back

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

Czech

Time

2007 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Havel, Václav. To the Castle and Back. Vintage, 2007.

Truth is not merely what we are thinking, but also why, to whom, and under what circumstances we say it.

Václav Havel

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of truth Truth

Speaker

Fistula

Author

Václav Havel

Source

Temptation

Medium

Play

Language

Czech

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Havel, Václav. Pokoušení [Temptation]. 22 May 1986, Burgtheater, Vienna, Austria.