When Russia Started To Regain Some Of

The Perception Of The West As Mostly A "knight Of Democracy" Has Been Replaced With The Disappointed Belief That Pragmatism, Often Cynical And Selfish, Lies At The Core Of Western Policies. For Many Russians It Was A Grave Disillusion, A Crushing Of Ideals.

What Would Things Been Like [in Russia] If During Periods Of Mass Arrests People Had Not Simply Sat There, Paling With Terror At Every Bang On The Downstairs Door And At Every Step On The Staircase, But Understood They Had Nothing To Lose And Had Boldly Set Up In The Downstairs Hall An Ambush Of Half A Dozen People?

Work Was Like A Stick. It Had Two Ends. When You Worked For The Knowing You Gave Them Quality; When You Worked For A Fool You Simply Gave Him Eyewash.

He Had Drawn Many A Thousand Of These Rations In Prisons And Camps, And Though He'd Never Had An Opportunity To Weight Them On Scales, And Although, Being A Man Of Timid Nature, He Knew No Way Of Standing Up For His Rights, He, Like Every Other Prisoner, Had Discovered Long Ago That Honest Weight Was Never To Be Found In The Bread-cutting. There Was Short Weight In Every Ration. The Only Point Was How Short. So Every Day You Took A Look To Soothe Your Soul - Today, Maybe, They Haven't Snitched Any.

One Should Never Direct People Towards Happiness, Because Happiness Too Is An Idol Of The Market-place. One Should Direct Them Towards Mutual Affection. A Beast Gnawing At Its Prey Can Be Happy Too, But Only Human Beings Can Feel Affection For Each Other, And This Is The Highest Achievement They Can Aspire To.