I Grew Up In The Sort Of

As A Form Of Moral Insurance, At Least, Literature Is Much More Dependable Than A System Of Beliefs Or A Philosophical Doctrine. Since There Are No Laws That Can Protect Us From Ourselves, No Criminal Code Is Capable Of Preventing A True Crime Against Literature; Though We Can Condemn The Material Suppression Of Literature - The Persecution Of Writers, Acts Of Censorship, The Burning Of Books - We Are Powerless When It Comes To Its Worst Violation: That Of Not Reading The Books. For That Crime, A Person Pays With His Whole Life; If The Offender Is A Nation, It Pays With Its History.

I Don't Believe In That Country Any Longer. I'm Not Interested. I'm Writing In The Language, And I Like The Language.

Who Included Me Among The Ranks Of The Human Race?

I Am Losing My Soviet Citizenship, I Do Not Cease To Be A Russian Poet. I Believe That I Will Return. Poets Always Return In Flesh Or On Paper.

Out Of Dostoevsky: Kafka. Out Of Tolstoy: Margaret Mitchell. (in Conversation, Explaining His Dislike For Tolstoy)