Rudite

“..one's environment is a key to one's identity, but that environment, Papa Song's, was a key I had lost.”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

“It was this gap between the truth of modern-day Russia and Putin’s insistence on its superpower status, I thought, that helped account for the country’s increasingly combative foreign relations. Much of the ire was directed at us: In public remarks, Putin became sharply critical of American policy. When U.S.-backed initiatives came before the U.N. Security Council, he made sure Russia blocked them or watered them down—particularly anything touching on human rights. More consequential were Putin’s escalating efforts to prevent former Soviet bloc countries, now independent, from breaking free of Russia’s orbit. Our diplomats routinely received complaints from Russia’s neighbors about instances of intimidation, economic pressure, misinformation campaigns, covert electioneering, contributions to pro-Russian political candidates, or outright bribery. In”
― Barack Obama, A Promised Land

“All revolutions are the sheerest fantasy until they happen; then they become historical inevitabilities.”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

“...that human hunger birthed the Civ'lize, but human hunger killed it too.”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas