Russia Quotes by Simon Sebag Montefiore

16 Russia quotes by Simon Sebag Montefiore

All Russia quotes Simon Sebag Montefiore’s page

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s storytelling knack shines through in these sixteen pieces on Russia. He weaves together vivid detail and broader strokes, giving readers a textured sense of the nation’s complexities.

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When I was young, I always wanted to go to Russia.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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In the new Georgia, Stalin is no longer Georgian. He's a Russian emperor.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Mr. Putin presents himself as a czar - and like any czar, he fears revolution above all else.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Putin regards Stalin as a great tsar; he is a great tsar. Asked who the worst tsars were, he said Nicholas II…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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As colonial puppeteer and successful restorer of Russia as imperial superpower, Mr. Putin is Stalin's consummate heir.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Nicholas I has been called 'Genghis Khan with a telegraph.' Stalin was 'Genghis Khan with a telephone.' But Mr. Putin is not…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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There are few words in Russian for the Western concept of 'law,' but there are legions of words for connections, helping people…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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The West is pathetically naive about Russian reformers. We long to believe they are real liberals, but no liberal will ever rule…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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A reforming liberal leader in Russia is the Holy Grail of Kremlinology, but the search for one is as misguided and hopeless…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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President Yeltsin's instincts were decent: he encouraged the marketplace, the press flourished, and everything started to open - even the KGB archives.…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Trump wants to be the first American tsar. With his hero worship of Putin, his admiration for the apparent omnipotence of the…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Russia's first major intervention began in 1768, when Catherine the Great went to war with the Ottomans, and Count Alexei Orlov, the…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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It was always presumptuous to expect Russia, an ancient nation-state and proud empire of distinct culture with a tradition of autocracy, to…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Russia is so feudal in its system of patronage and reward that it is virtually impossible for a leader to hand over…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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There is a view of Russian exceptionalism, that they are a unique civilisation, a view right since Ivan the Terrible that Russia…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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No one can take away the experience of Yeltsin's freedoms, but Russian democracy will never follow Western models: other authoritarian 'controlled democracies'…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Trump wants to be the first American tsar. With his hero worship of Putin, his admiration for the apparent omnipotence of the Kremlin, schoolboyish…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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“History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." --- Edward Gibbon”

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Every Russian emperor from Peter the Great to Stalin and Putin knows a leader and his security agencies must never be parted. His safety…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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“Sex fills a few hours of our lives yet those precious minutes count for more than months and years”

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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“Iraq was already in the grip of a bloody insurgency against British rule. Churchill therefore called a conference in Cairo to hand over a…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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I don't think Jerusalem should be controlled 100% by religious people of any denomination, sect, or religion - even my own.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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The memoirs of the Grand Duchess Olga are an entertaining record for anyone interested in the imperial family's home life during the last years…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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I am a passionate nonfinisher. Life is too short, and there are too many great books to read, so if I lose interest or…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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“Necessity is very often the mother of romance.”

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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There is a view of Russian exceptionalism, that they are a unique civilisation, a view right since Ivan the Terrible that Russia is a…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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The political lives of tyrants play out human affairs with a special intensity: the death of a democratic leader long after his retirement is…

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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If only all straight weddings could be somehow gay-ified.

Simon Sebag Montefiore

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