The Khodorkovsky case is typical of the "oprichnina" - the system of oppression.

Nothing has changed in Russia since Ivan the Terrible when it comes to the divide between the people and the state. The state demands a sacred willingness to make sacrifices from the people.

The West should be even more vocal in insisting that the Russians respect human rights.

I'm not a prophet or a teacher, I just ask questions. I don't think a writer should be a teacher, but should know how to pose the questions and explain the problems.

I have Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin to thank that a Russian writer can not only write anything he wants, but also publish it.

As a child I perceived violence as a sort of natural law. In the totalitarian Soviet Union, oppression held everything together. It was the sinister energy of our country.

The worst thing that can happen to Russia is indifference in the West - that is, if it were interested in nothing but oil and gas.

The Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov once said: In a Democracy, portraits of a nation's leader should never exceed the size of a postage stamp. That won't happen so quickly in Russia.

In Russia one can be as pure as can be and still lose everything in a flash and end up in prison.

Everyone in Russia must awaken the citizen within himself.

In Russia only those who are loyal to the people in power can become wealthy.

Either you 'are' in your mind, or you are where you are. Fully present.

The neurologist had dismissed her case after a single visit, handing out an easy nostrum by telling her father that if she continued to write poetry, she would be all right.

I WILL FOLLOW ANYONEAND REMIND EVERYONEOF THE SUFFERING...OF THE ENSLAVED...YAZIDI WOMEN

I would like to prove that on TV, everyday lives can be as compelling as the life-styles of the rich and famous. Especially lives that we catch at extraordinary moments.

Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths . . . ?

I am not my sister's keeper. I am my sister.

You cannot take the life of your times further than you have taken yourself.

The broader the topic, the easier it is, not only to fill a book, but to set the bar pretty high for really great stuff.

India will be tomorrow what China is today.

Why IBM? We have tremendous expertise. One of the reasons we can drive phenomenal efficiency around the world is because we've made IBM an e-business.