Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire. — Roland Barthes
Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence. — George Steiner
Speak any language, Turkish, Greek, Persian, Arabic, but always speak with love — Rumi
Absolutely nothing is so important for a nation's culture as its language. — Wilhelm von Humboldt
All language is but a poor translation. — Franz Kafka
Russian Quotes
Never fight with Russian. On your every stratagem they answer unpredictable stupidity. — Otto von Bismarck
Moscow... how many strains are fusing in that one sound, for Russian hearts! What store of riches it imparts! — Alexander Pushkin
It is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies. — George F. Kennan
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
When the bell tolls three times, it will announce that I have been killed. If I am killed by common men, you and your children will rule Russia for centuries to come; if I am killed by one of your stock, you and your family will be killed by the Russian people! Pray Tsar of Russia. Pray. — Grigori Rasputin
When I was in high school, I liked to pretend that I was a Russian foreign exchange student. I would do things like go into a pizza restaurant and tell them Id never had pizza before, and theyd bring me into the kitchen and show me how to make an American pizza. Its really fun. — Misha Collins
The Russians have a lot at stake, and the power of Moscow pride should never be underestimated. — Bob Schaffer
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
The Russian Bolsheviks have discovered that truth does not matter so long as there is reiteration. They have no difficulty whatever in countering a fact by a lie which, if repeated often enough and loudly enough, becomes accepted by the people. — Winston Churchill
I remember in 1978 meeting two Ugandan captains in the hotel talking Russian. They had been educated in Moscow and since they came from different Ugandan peoples, it was the only way they could understand one another. — Ryszard Kapuscinski
Many people at different levels of the Russian government are open to cryptocurrencies. — Vitalik Buterin
If Ukraine becomes a pro-American liberal democracy, and a member of NATO, and a member of the E.U., the Russians will consider that categorically unacceptable. — John Mearsheimer
Russian History Quotes
With a rumble and a roar, an iron curtain is descending on Russian history. — Vasily Rozanov
I don't concede that Guccifer is a Russian agent. Officials also said, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Just because the intelligence services say something, as we know from history, does not make it true. — Roger Stone
My favourite city is Moscow, because of its history, which I find fascinating. As I learned to speak Russian, it made it even more interesting. — Chris Hadfield
The language of friendship is not words, but meanings.
The roe of the Russian sturgeon has probably been present at more important international affairs than have all the Russian dignitaries of history combined. This seemingly simple article of diet has taken its place in the world along with pearls, sables, old silver, and Cellini cups. — James Beard
The scale and grandeur of the Russian effort mark it as the greatest military achievement in all history. — Douglas MacArthur
In the appendix to my History of the Russian Revolution I give a detailed and documented study of the ideas of the Bolshevik party on the October revolution. This study, I hope, will make it impossible in the future to ascribe to [Vladimir] Lenin the theory of Socialism in a single country. — Leon Trotsky
Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.
It is bad luck for world history that of all people the Russians adopted Communism, because they are totally unfit for it. — Friedrich Durrenmatt
The clash between the aspirations of the people for a better life and the insistence of their rulers on building a powerful state, regardless of human sacrifice, runs through the whole of Russian history — Harrison Salisbury
A half-century after racing the Russians to the moon, the U.S. is barely suiting up in the international race to secure interests in the Arctic. — Rick Larsen
I'm interested in Russian language, culture, history... and I lived there, for four years, as a reporter for the Washington Post and have visited many times since. — David Remnick
Russia Quotes
Great Britain provided time; the United States provided money and Soviet Russia provided blood. — Joseph Stalin
The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia. — Otto von Bismarck
Nobody should have any illusion about the possibility of gaining military superiority over Russia. We will never allow this to happen. — Vladimir Putin
Love will find its way through all languages on its own.
By May, 1st, 1937, there should not be one single church left within the borders of Soviet Russia, and the idea of God will have been banished from the Soviet Union as a remnant of the Middle Ages, which has been used for the purpose of oppressing the working classes. — Joseph Stalin
We host some trips all over the world. We go to Alaska. We go to Mexico. We're going to Venezuela in December. We've been to Russia, all in conjunction with the radio show. — Martin Milner
In Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was propaganda. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One. — Yakov Smirnoff
Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
You must go deeper into Russia - 150 kilometres from Moscow or more, and look there. The kids are fed with cattle feed - people don't get paid for half a year. — Alexander Lebed
The war against Russia has been lost, it has been lost for months. People need to understand there was a deliberate coup. Americans working closely with the CIA systematically installed a new government composed of people that would do business with us. — Douglas Macgregor
My mother would take groups of students to different countries and always brought us along, so by the time I was 10, I had been to Russia, China, Nicaragua and several other countries. — Eliza Dushku
This is not just Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is the beginning of a war against Europe, against European structures, against democracy, against basic human rights, against a global order of law, rules and peaceful coexistence. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Russian Literature Quotes
Twentieth-century Russian literature has produced nothing special except perhaps one novel and two stories by Andrei Platonov, who ended his days sweeping streets. — Joseph Brodsky
I can say without affectation that I belong to the Russian convict world no less than I do to Russian literature. I got my education there, and it will last forever. — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The tradition of Russian literature is also an eastern tradition of learning poetry and prose by heart. — Ryszard Kapuscinski
The ability to speak several languages is an asset, but the ability to keep your mouth shut in any language is priceless.
I love the Russian classics very much, the Russian classical literature. But I also read modern literature. As far as Russian literature is concerned, I am very fond of Tolstoy and Chekhov, and I also enjoy reading Gogol very much. — Vladimir Putin
Persecution mania is still around. In your writing, in your exchanges with people, meeting people who are in Russian affairs, Russian literature, etcetera. — Joseph Brodsky
Russia is a place of great culture. If you've read Tolstoy's "War and Peace", Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, Chekhov...the culture of the great Russian literature is amazing. The human narrative you get out of "War and Peace" is universal. — Andre Leon Talley
In your silence, when there are no words, no language, nobody else is present, you are getting in tune with existence.
The greatest books in Russian literature are satires. Gogol's Dead Souls, for example, is a very over-the-top satire about life in Russia. I think it's the thing we do best. — Gary Shteyngart
In communist Russia, their major organ was Pravda, which means "truth." The Russians knew how to read between the lines. They didn't take their literature literally. — Raymond Pettibon
The whole world recognizes Russia's cultural achievements. It is impossible to imagine the world culture without Russian culture, without our music and literature. — Vladimir Putin
Russian Government Quotes
Flushed with victory, the new interim Ukrainian government had immediately made some foolish statements, not least of which was the intention to abolish Russian as the official second language in various regions. — Tim Marshall
If the English want a king, it is their business. If the Russians want communism, it is their business. If the Americans want our form of government, it is our business. — Julius Rosenberg
Russian government was in contact with multiple [Donald] Trump campaign sources while they were doing [attacks]. Russian nemesis in the American government, U.S. State Department, CIA, are not faring well since Donald Trump came to power. — Rachel Maddow
There are hundreds of languages around the world, but a smile speaks them all.
In modern Russia, you have no official, formal assessment of this past. Nobody in any Russian document has said that the policy of the Soviet government was criminal, that it was terrible. No one has ever said this. — Ryszard Kapuscinski
Iran is part of the problem, not the solution. And the Russian government is ignoring reality. — Lindsey Graham
Come to find out, the Russians were never afraid of the Americans. They weren't raised with the terror that we were by our government. I was struck by how our government misled us for so many years. — Deidre Hall
We all smile in the same language.
There has been growing quite a strain of irritating feeling between our government and the Russians and it seems to me that it is a time for me to use all the restraint I can on these other people who have been apparently getting a little more irritated. — Henry L. Stimson
I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia. — John McCain
I'm eternally grateful to fate and the citizens of Russia that they've trusted me to be the head of the Russian government. — Vladimir Putin
In effect, I was asking that if Russia mobilized against Austria, the German Government, who had been supporting the Austrian demand on Serbia, should ask Austria to consider some modification of her demands, under the threat of Russian mobilization. — Edward Grey
Russian Economy Quotes
I think Russians today have a distorted picture of capitalism, liberal democracy and market economy. — Garry Kasparov
In 1998, the Russian economy was on the brink, and then it rebounded. It happened quite quickly. India too—I have no doubt it will rebound. — Bernard Arnault
The Russians can't change us or significantly weaken us. They are a smaller country. They are a weaker country. Their economy doesn't produce anything that anybody wants to buy, except oil and gas and arms. They don't innovate. But they can impact us if we lose track of who we are. — Barack Obama
Music is the universal language of mankind.
It sometimes seems to me that some of our Western partners do not want Russia to fully recover. They would like Russia to be in a subdued state, and they want Russian resources to be used for the benefit of the U.S. economy. — Mikhail Gorbachev
Russia depends on natural resources way too much. Russian economy is not diversified enough — Kenneth Rogoff
Economists believe there are three reasons why the Russian economy is doing so poorly. One, economic sanctions are working. Number two, low-price oil. And number three, Lindsay Lohan has quit drinking vodka. — David Letterman
The Russian economy is about the size of the Italian economy; it's very small, and Russia's military force is larger than it was, because Putin's been investing in it, but it still doesn't compare to that of the United States, and his reach and aim still don't compare. — Anne Applebaum
The Russian economy is way down because of the price of oil, and because the USSR was a big chunk of it. — Michael Bloomberg
America is stronger than Russia. Our economy is 16 times larger than the Russian economy. — Mike Pence
In other words, we do not have to be obsessed with privatizing immediately and at any cost. No, we will not do it at any cost. We will do it in a way that ensures maximum benefit for the Russian state and the Russian economy. — Vladimir Putin
Russ Quotes
I remember my dad asking me one time, and it's something that has always stuck with me: 'Why not you, Russ?' You know, why not me? Why not me in the Super Bowl? So in speaking to our football team earlier in the year, I said, 'Why not us? Why can't we be there?' — Russell Wilson
McCarthy emerged in the person of Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. — Pat Buchanan
I'd run over Russ Grimm's mother to win the Super Bowl, too. — Matt Millen
People say it was the greatest individual rivalry they've ever seen. I agree with that. Let me assure you that if either Wilt's or Russ' coach had ever told one of them he couldn't guard the other guy, he would have lost that player forever. — Bill Russell
I like fighters. That's why I love Russ Feingold. I love Barbara Boxer. And Howard Dean and John Conyers. Democrats I talk to around the country want their leaders to come out and fight for them. — Stephanie Miller
I assisted with Russ [Manning] for about eleven months and my day job for 5 days a week was credit manager and paint salesman for Sherwin-Williams. — Mike Royer
Of course I was always mad about the ballet russe, mad about it! — Diana Vreeland
I think I'm the last Democrat left in the Senate after Russ Feingold was defeated that won't take earmarks. — Claire McCaskill
My very first acting gig was in a movie for Russ Parr. He did this movie called "Love for Sale," and that was my first role in any film. — Terrence J
Of course I’ve gone mad with power! Have you ever tried going mad without power? It’s boring and no one listens to you! — Russ Cargill — Matt Groening
Math and science fields are not the only areas where we see the United States lagging behind. Less than 1 percent of American high school students study the critical foreign languages of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Russian, combined. — Cathy McMorris Rodgers
I'm no linguist, but I have been told that in the Russian language, there isn't even a word for freedom. — Ronald Reagan
In days of doubt, in days of dreary musings on my country's fate, you alone are my comfort and support, oh great, powerful, righteous, and free Russian language! — Ivan Turgenev
Most Russians don't treat the government, or those in power, as something close to them. They don't believe that they, as ordinary people, are able to change the development of things. That's why they have a very specific ironic sentiment towards power and the figures that represent it. I wanted to translate this irony into the cinematic language. — Andrey Zvyagintsev
Russian is a very deceptive language, because it looks easy at first: it's like setting out for a gentle stroll and realizing that you've committed yourself to scaling Himalayan peaks. — Armand Hammer
The beauty of a language is, generally judged by its soft or rigid, melodious or harsh, ring. Other aspects, such as the flexibility of derivation, play hardly any role in grading. Were it the case, Russian would certainly be placed on the winner’s stand. It would rank first in plasticity. — Kató Lomb
Not now, for the last three thousand years, Hebrew has been penetrated and fertilized by ancient Semitic languages - by Aramaic, by Greek, by Latin, by Arabic, by Yiddish, by Latino, by German, by Russian, by English, I could go on and on. It's very much like English. — Amos Oz
Russian is such a tough and complex language that I am happy enough to understand everything and read most things pretty well, but, without constant practice, my speech is not what I wish it was, and I would sooner write in crayon than write a letter in Russian. — David Remnick
When writing dialogue, I hear it in both Russian and English, and try to find a language that combines the two. — David Bezmozgis
I think somebody who speaks the language is going to notice immediately that I'm not Russian. — Nicholas Lea
Just as the Russians and the Soviets didn't manage to wipe out languages in Lithuania, neither have they managed to wipe out religion to the extent that we had feared. — Jeane Kirkpatrick
After the turmoil of the Second World War, my family ended up in Russian-occupied East Germany. When I attended fourth grade, I had to learn Russian as my first foreign language in school. I found this quite difficult because of the Cyrillic alphabet, but as time went on, I seemed to do all right. — Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Putin imagined it would be different. So, like many Russian leaders before him, he imagined that Ukraine was basically Russia, but they speak with a funny accent. Actually, it's not Russia; it has a different identity. It has a very different language. Russians don't automatically understand Ukrainian. And, in particular, the way Ukraine has developed over the last two decades is different from the way Russia has developed. — Anne Applebaum
Here in the U.S. we do have a problem with a president Donald Trump who uses language in two distinctly destructive ways. One is to lie, and to use words to mean their opposite. Like, when he calls the Russian investigation a "witch hunt." He can't call it a "witch hunt" because a witch hunt is something that a powerful person does against a powerless person. The most powerful man in the world cannot be the object of a witch hunt. — Masha Gessen
After [Donald] Trump and his campaign manager both initially denied having anything to do with the platform change, a Trump campaign official now admits that the campaign pushed to soften the Russian language in the platform. It says it was done specifically at Trump`s request. — Rachel Maddow
One limits oneself in this country if you come as a legal immigrant to this country and you choose to only speak your language whether it be Polish or Russian like many of my own relatives who came here if you speak only Russian and Polish you're limiting your opportunities in the United States. — Andrew Breitbart
There's a huge and hungry market for the books on style and fashion in Russia, though the books should be done in Russian, not English since there are few readers who've master foreign languages well enough to buy foreign editions. — Alexander Vassiliev
I love languages (I speak French and Spanish and have been studying Russian) and accents; so one definite dream role would be being able to combine those elements into a character. — Sundra Oakley
What happens when you speak colloquial Hebrew is you switch between registers all the time. So in a typical sentence, three words are biblical, one word is Russian, and one word is Yiddish. This kind of connection between very high language and very low language is very natural, people use it all the time. — Etgar Keret
I have to admit that I don't even try to speak Russian, though I understand it perfectly. I wouldn't want to insult the language by testing out my pronunciations — Lana Wood
If possible, be Russian. And live in another country. Play chess. Be an active trader between languages. Carry precious metals from one to the other. Remind us of Stravinsky. Know the names of plants and flying creatures. Hunt gauzy wings with snares of gauze. Make science pay tribute. Have a butterfly known by your name. — Vladimir Nabokov
We must create the conditions for immigrants to normally integrate into our society, learn Russian and, of course, respect our culture and traditions and abide by Russian law. In this regard, I believe that the decision to make learning the Russian language compulsory and administer exams is well grounded. To do so, we will need to carry out major organisational work and introduce corresponding legislative amendments. — Vladimir Putin
It was Russia, January 5, 1943, and just another icy day. Out among the city and snow, there were dead Russians and Germans everywhere. Those who remained were firing into the blank pages in front of them. Three languages interwove. The Russian, the bullets, the German. — Markus Zusak
Did you know that there is no exact rhyme in the Russian language for the word 'pravda'? Ponder and weigh this insufficiency in your mind. Doesn't that just echo down the canyons of your soul? — Julian Barnes
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