Alexander Solzhenitsyn died Sunday. He was 89. His son, Stephan Solzhenitsyn, told the Associated Press that his father died of heart failure in Moscow. He was a Russian novelist, dramatist and historian. Through his writings, he made the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet labour camp system, and for these efforts, Solzhenitsyn was both awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 and exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974.. he returned to Russia 20 years later. In honor of his passing I give you a few of the things that he has said:The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.
Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle.
Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words.
It is time in the West to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.
The task must be to banish from mankind's thought the idea that anybody has the right to use force against righteousness, against justice, against mutual agreements.
In our country, the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.
How can you expect a man who's warm to understand one who's cold?
A good writer, thinker and a good person. I am surprised his passing received so little attention in my part of the world.
ReplyDeleteHis life was an amazing story and his death is a very sad passing.
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