--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The divine impeccability of the immortal…" description: "\"The divine impeccability of the immortal [Soviet] State turned out not only to have suppressed individual human beings but also to have defended them, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg" --- # The divine impeccability of the immortal \[Soviet\] State… ![“The divine impeccability of the immortal [Soviet] State turned out not only to have suppressed individual human beings but also to have defended them, to have comforted them in their weakness, to have justified their insignificance. The State had taken on its own shoulders the entire weight of…” quote by Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg) > “The divine impeccability of the immortal \[Soviet\] State turned out not only to have suppressed individual human beings but also to have defended them, to have comforted them in their weakness, to have justified their insignificance. The State had taken on its own shoulders the entire weight of responsibility; it had liberated people from the chimera of conscience.” [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The state claims moral perfection but ends up suppressing individuals while paradoxically offering them comfort and justification for their insignificance. **In simple terms:** The state pretends to be perfect but actually controls and comforts people. Key Takeaway Question the state's moral claims. Themes politics power individuality Mood critical reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - historical analysis - political activism - personal ethics - civil discourse Key Concepts totalitarianism psychology of authority Questions to Reflect On - Is comfort from authority ever justified? - How does state power affect personal conscience? A Different Perspective State comfort can mask oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chimera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimera/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine/) [Divine Impeccability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine-impeccability-2143394/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Immortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortal/) [Immortal Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortal-soviet-2143392/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Insignificance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insignificance/) [Insignificance State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insignificance-state-2143393/) [Justified](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justified/) [Liberated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberated/) [Liberated People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberated-people-238481/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Shoulders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shoulders/) [Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet/) [Soviet State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-state-273658/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) [Weight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weight/) ## Related quotes > [“The Soviet state was, in fact, almost perfectly designed to make people unhappy. It denied its citizens not just hope, but also trust. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-bullough/the-soviet-state-was-in-fact-almost-perfectly-designed-to-make-people/) [Oliver Bullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-bullough/) > [ “\[The Soviet State Security Service\] is more than a secret police organization, more than an intelligence and counter-intelligence organization. It is an instrument for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-dulles/the-soviet-state-security-service-is-more-than-a-secret-police/) [Allen W. Dulles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-dulles/) > [The Soviet State does not need either illusions or camouflage. It can claim only that world authority which is confirmed by the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/the-soviet-state-does-not-need-either-illusions-or-camouflage-it-can/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [One has this image of the Soviet state and the Red Army as being extremely disciplined but in the first four months of 1945…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-beevor/one-has-this-image-of-the-soviet-state-and-the-red-army-as-being/) [Antony Beevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-beevor/) > [“By the mid-nineteen-sixties, the Soviet state was no longer promising its citizens a utopian Communist future. Under Brezhnev, the state “stopped working on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/by-the-mid-nineteen-sixties-the-soviet-state-was-no-longer-promising/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You desire a popular art? Begin by having a "people" whose minds are liberated, a people not crushed by misery and ceaseless toil, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-rolland/you-desire-a-popular-art-begin-by-having-a-people-whose-minds-are/) [Romain Rolland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-rolland/) > [The revolutionary's role is to liberate, and to be liberated, with the people--not to win them over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-revolutionary-s-role-is-to-liberate-and-to-be-liberated-with-the/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [From seeds of his body blossomed the flower that liberated a people and touched the soul of a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/from-seeds-of-his-body-blossomed-the-flower-that-liberated-a-people/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [The company Liberated People represents just not liberation of different nations around the world; it can be special liberation days. It can be what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gbenga-akinnagbe/the-company-liberated-people-represents-just-not-liberation-of/) [Gbenga Akinnagbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gbenga-akinnagbe/) > [I know some stories about "liberation" and stuff that's been liberated by people who turn around and get on their soapbox about how it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-royer/i-know-some-stories-about-liberation-and-stuff-that-s-been-liberated/) [Mike Royer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-royer/) > [“The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in the history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-t-rowan/the-library-is-the-temple-of-learning-and-learning-has-liberated-more/) [Carl T. Rowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-t-rowan/) > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Since there must be chimeras, why is not perfection the chimera of all men?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/since-there-must-be-chimeras-why-is-not-perfection-the-chimera-of-all/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## More by Vasily Grossman > [“When a person dies, they cross over from the realm of freedom to the realm of slavery. Life is freedom, and dying is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/when-a-person-dies-they-cross-over-from-the-realm-of-freedom-to-the/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Life was terrible. It was as though they could understand, as though they could read in one another’s eyes, that the power which had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/life-was-terrible-it-was-as-though-they-could-understand-as-though/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“She's got legs like a stork, no arse worth speaking of, and great cow-like eyes. call that a woman?' 'You just like big tits',…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/she-s-got-legs-like-a-stork-no-arse-worth-speaking-of-and-great-cow/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“The true champions of a nation's freedom are those who reject the limitations of stereotypes and affirm the rich diversity of human nature to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-true-champions-of-a-nation-s-freedom-are-those-who-reject-the/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [I don't want you to be young and beautiful. I only want one thing. I want you to be kind-hearted - and not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/i-don-t-want-you-to-be-young-and-beautiful-i-only-want-one-thing-i/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“My faith has been tempered in Hell. My faith has emerged from the flames of the crematoria, from the concrete of the gas chamber.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/my-faith-has-been-tempered-in-hell-my-faith-has-emerged-from-the/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Another fact that allowed Fascism to gain power over men was their blindness. A man cannot believe that he is about to be destroyed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/another-fact-that-allowed-fascism-to-gain-power-over-men-was-their/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [Chekhov said: let's put God - and all these grand progressive ideas - to one side. Let's begin with man; let's be kind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/chekhov-said-let-s-put-god-and-all-these-grand-progressive-ideas-to/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Before the war Sofya Levinton had once said to Yevgenia Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova, 'If one man is fated to be killed by another, it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/before-the-war-sofya-levinton-had-once-said-to-yevgenia-nikolaevna/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Freedom is the direct opposite of necessity; freedom is necessity overcome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/freedom-is-the-direct-opposite-of-necessity-freedom-is-necessity/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [There's nothing more difficult than saying goodbye to a house where you've suffered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/there-s-nothing-more-difficult-than-saying-goodbye-to-a-house-where/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“The travelers emerged into a spacious square. In the middle of this square were several dozen people on a wooden bandstand like in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-travelers-emerged-into-a-spacious-square-in-the-middle-of-this/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Among a million Russian huts you will never find even two that are exactly the same. Everything that lives is unique. It is unimaginable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/among-a-million-russian-huts-you-will-never-find-even-two-that-are/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Don't you remember how you once answered a question of mine? Me - I shall never forget your words. Those words of yours opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/don-t-you-remember-how-you-once-answered-a-question-of-mine-me-i/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“Perhaps you’ve read Tolstoy’s Hadji Mourat? Perhaps you’ve read The Cossacks? Perhaps you’ve read the story “A Prisoner in the Caucasus”? They were written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/perhaps-you-ve-read-tolstoy-s-hadji-mourat-perhaps-you-ve-read-the/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) [Explore all 101 Vasily Grossman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) ## More Chimera quotes > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Since there must be chimeras, why is not perfection the chimera of all men?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/since-there-must-be-chimeras-why-is-not-perfection-the-chimera-of-all/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Without democracy freedom is a chimera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/without-democracy-freedom-is-a-chimera/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Language is the only chimera whose illusory power is endless, the inexhaustibility which keeps life from being impoverished. Let men learn to serve language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/language-is-the-only-chimera-whose-illusory-power-is-endless-the/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [“Good Samaritans: Truth, justice and the American way–for them it wasn't only a comic book code; it was a way of life. it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-thurman/good-samaritans-truth-justice-and-the-american-way-for-them-it-wasn-t/) [Rob Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-thurman/) > [Everyone knows that (1) happiness is the goal of life, and (2) happiness is a chimera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/everyone-knows-that-1-happiness-is-the-goal-of-life-and-2-happiness/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [For the first rate poet, nothing short of a Queen or a Chimera is adequate for the powers of his praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/for-the-first-rate-poet-nothing-short-of-a-queen-or-a-chimera-is/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [The soul languishing in obscurity contracts a kind of rust, or abandons itself to the chimera of presumption; for it is natural for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/the-soul-languishing-in-obscurity-contracts-a-kind-of-rust-or/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [The Void is not being, but not being cannot be, ergo the Void cannot be. The reasoning was sound, because it denied the Void…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cannot-be-ergo-the-void-cannot-be/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [It's not a matter of emancipating truth from every system of power (which would be a chimera, for truth is already power) but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/it-s-not-a-matter-of-emancipating-truth-from-every-system-of-power/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [In whatever system where the weight attached to the wheel should be the cause of motion of the wheel, without any doubt the center…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/in-whatever-system-where-the-weight-attached-to-the-wheel-should-be/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [I believed that I was approaching the end of my days without having tasted to the full any of the pleasures for which my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-believed-that-i-was-approaching-the-end-of-my-days-without-having/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Just as the blurring between childhood and adulthood has produced the kidult, so the stretching of middle into old age has fostered another peculiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/just-as-the-blurring-between-childhood-and-adulthood-has-produced-the/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Conservatives have long argued, correctly, that 'fine-tuning' the economy is a chimera, but that argument seems to have disappeared from the conservative handbook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-tabarrok/conservatives-have-long-argued-correctly-that-fine-tuning-the-economy/) [Alex Tabarrok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-tabarrok/) [Browse all 59 Chimera quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimera/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The divine impeccability of the immortal [Soviet] State turned out not only to have suppressed individual human beings but also to have defended them, to have comforted them in their weakness, to have justified their insignificance. The State had taken on its own shoulders the entire weight of responsibility; it had liberated people from the chimera of conscience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Vasily Grossman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal-soviet-state-turned-out-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chimera" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal-soviet-state-turned-out-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0df/vasily-grossman-4608_chimera_the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal_1004610.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The divine impeccability of the immortal [Soviet] State turned out not only to have suppressed individual…” — Vasily Grossman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Vasily Grossman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The divine impeccability of the immortal...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal-soviet-state-turned-out-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-divine-impeccability-of-the-immortal-soviet-state-turned-out-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```