Dmytro

“В умовах хаосу й розрухи уряд, який не в змозі забезпечити мінімальний пайок, швидко втрачає легітимність. Отже влада повинна вміти раціонально використовувати апарат придушення, грабувати село так, щоб щось залишити, по містах запровадити строгу карткову систему й не ганяти, а пестити і плекати чорний ринок, який знімає з неї моральний обов'язок годувати старих та дітей, відтягує на себе рештки невдоволених і підтримує їхню віру в те, що хтось, бажано діти, виживе.”
― Сергій Сингаївський, Дорога на Асмару

“The loud chorus, which burst forth at the entrance to the church, continued as the procession moved towards the throne, and after the archbishop had taken his seat; when my attention was for a moment called off, by seeing one of the Russians earnestly crossing himself with his right hand, while his left was employed in picking my companion's pocket of his handkerchief.”
― Edward Daniel Clarke, Travels in Russia, Tartary and Turkey

“John Basilovich I. has been considered as one of the founders of the Russian empire; but his accession did not take place till the middle of the fifteenth century. He arose, like Bonaparte, in a period of national dismay, confusion, and calamity; and though described as a man of impetuous vices and violent passions, intrepid, artful, treacherous, and having all the ferocity of a savage, has been hailed as the deliverer of his country, and dignified by the appellation of the Great. It is a title which oppressed intimidated people have frequently bestowed upon tyrants. Until his time, however, Tartars were lords of Moscow -- the tsars themselves being obliged to stand in the presence of their ambassadors, while the latter sat at meat, and to endure the most humiliating ceremonies. Basilovich shook off the Tartar yoke; but it was a long time before the Russians, always children of imitation, ceased to mimic a people by whom they had been conquered. They had neither arts nor opinions of their own: every thing in Moscow Tartarian -- dress, manners, buildings, equipages -- in short, all except religion and language, Basilovich, at the conquest of Casan, was solemnly crowned with the diadem of that kingdom, which is said to be the same now used for the coronation of the Russian sovereigns.”
― Edward Daniel Clarke, Travels in Russia, Tartary and Turkey

“- А я що кажу! - вигукнув Желько. - До війни, ви, русини, мастаки, як також до бджолярства, гончарства та співання сумних пісень під бандуру у вишневому садочку, але кажу про інше. Про те, що називається державним життям. Ось цього ви не вмієте, а повсякчас чекаєте, аби вас хтось завоював і правив вами.”
― Василь Кожелянко, Ефіопська Січ