The Soviet Union could not exist without the image of the empire. The image of the empire could not exist without the image of force. The USSR ended the moment the first hammer pounded the Berlin Wall.
BORIS YELTSINWe want peace and a political solution to the situation in Chechnya.
More Boris Yeltsin Quotes
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We don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone. Freedom is like that. It’s like air. When you have it, you don’t notice it.
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One could see that what you are writing was that today’s meeting with President Bill Clinton was going to be a disaster. Now, for the first time, I can tell you that you are a disaster.
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A government is not an old pair of socks that you throw away.
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Storm clouds of terror and dictatorship are gathering over the whole country… They must not be allowed to bring eternal night.
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Russia also declared its independence. This was approved by the Supreme Soviet, and you know and remember that there was the Declaration on the Independence of Russia.
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It is especially important to encourage unorthodox thinking when the situation is critical: At such moments every new word and fresh thought is more precious than gold. Indeed, people must not be deprived of the right to think their own thoughts.
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Money, big money (which is actually a relative concept) is always, under any circumstances, a seduction, a test of morals, a temptation to sin.
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I will not step down, I will not resign, … I will work to the end of my term in office under the constitution. In the year 2000, there will be presidential elections under the constitution and I will not run in those elections.
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I am convinced that the moment is coming when, with its message of eternal, universal values, it will come to the aid of our society. For in these words: “Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” lie those very moral principles that will enable us to survive even the most critical situations.
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Let’s not talk about Communism. Communism was just and idea, just pie in the sky.
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We Russians are already living, not getting ready to live.
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I especially love driving down a hill directly at a tree and swerving to one side at the last moment. That’s my way to relax.
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I believe in this tragic hour you can make the right choice. The honor and glory of Russian men of arms shall not be stained with the blood of the people.
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A man must live like a great brilliant flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is far better than a mean little flame.
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I refer to calls for humanitarian intervention in the affairs of another state – a new idea, this – even when they are made under the pretext of defending human rights and freedoms.
BORIS YELTSIN