I Grew Up In The Sort Of

What's Happening In Russia Is Devoid Of Autobiographical Interest For Me. Maybe It's Egocentric. Whatever It Is, Feel Free To Use It.

I Grew Up In The Sort Of Cultural Milieu That Always Regarded Conversations About The Political Discourse As Tremendously Low-brow.

In Russia, The Moment A Person Opens His Mouth You Know Where He's From. There's The Uniformity Of Experience Of An Individual In Russia. When You're About 7 Years Old You Get Into School And You Get Put In This Factory Or This Bureaucracy Or Whatever. The Options Are Computable. Here It's Tremendously Diverse.

A Man Should Know About Himself Two Or Three Things: Whether He Is A Coward; Whether He Is An Honest Man Or Given To Lies; Whether He Is An Ambitious Man. One Should Define Oneself First Of All In Those Terms, And Only Then In Terms Of Culture, Race, Creed.

At Certain Periods Of History It Is Only Poetry That Is Capable Of Dealing With Reality By Condensing It Into Something Graspable, Something That Otherwise Wouldn't Be Retained By The Mind.