Russians clearly perceive America's global influence as being in irreversible decline and American society shattered by major political, economic and ideological crises.

Democracy is the only game in town. The problem is [when] people start to believe that it is not a game worth playing.

Transparency is not about restoring trust in institutions. Transparency is the politics of managing mistrust.

Bulgaria has been deindustrialized by interest groups who extracted state assets like oil states extract the oil in their ground.

The Church of TED is very optimistic. Bulgarians are some of the most pessimistic in the world. There are the Happy, the Unhappy and the Bulgarians.

Authoritarianism is not pretending anymore to be a real alternative to democracy, but we can see many more authoritarian practices and styles basically being smuggled into democratic governments.

As a rule, governments monitor people.

[It's] difficult to engage people in politics when they believe that what really matters is where they personally stand.

The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.

The mysterious Russian soul... Everyone wants to understand it. They read Dostoevsky: what's behind that soul of theirs? Well, behind our soul there's just more soul.

You got to face your evil, Hoodoo, " Zeke said. "If people don't face the danger that's seeking them, evil will find them first.

It is better to Leap than to Sleep

If you want to be a genius, it's easy: All you gotta say is, 'Everything stinks.' Then, you're never wrong.

It is also important to understand that a hidden nature is not always an evil nature

When you represent a club it's about values and qualities, not about passports.

The universe is perfection. But there are different views that universe provides for itself to view itself. Beyond all views there is nirvana.

You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.

The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce.