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.
BORIS YELTSINStorm clouds of terror and dictatorship are gathering over the whole country… They must not be allowed to bring eternal night.
More Boris Yeltsin Quotes
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A government is not an old pair of socks that you throw away.
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Thousands of mercenaries, who have trained in camps on the territory of Chechnya as well as come in from abroad, are actually preparing to impose extremist ideas on the whole world.
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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.
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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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International terrorism is throwing down a challenge, and not just to Russia.
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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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We Russians are already living, not getting ready to live.
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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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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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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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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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There were no strategic mistakes that could affect Russia’s history and it further development. No, there were no such mistakes. Tactical errors were made in some less significant options, problems and so on. But, on the whole, Russia embarked on a correct path and it changed.
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Let’s not talk about Communism. Communism was just and idea, just pie in the sky.
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A total of 1,580 people, the civilian population, suffered as a result of the bloody wave of terrorist acts that swept over Moscow and other towns and villages of our country.
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I understand that it’s hard for everyone, but one cannot give in to emotions… we’ll have to draw lessons from the current crisis and now we’ll have to work on overcoming it.
BORIS YELTSIN






