Переживи всех.
Переживи вновь,
словно они — снег,
пляшущий снег снов.
Переживи углы.
Переживи углом.
Перевяжи узлы
между добром и злом.
Но переживи миг.
И переживи век.
Переживи крик.
Переживи смех.
Переживи стих.
Переживи всех.
Нет, я не Байрон, я другой,Ещё неведомый избранник,Как он, гонимый миром странник,Но только с русскою душой.Я раньше начал, кончу ране,Мой ум немного совершит;В душе моей, как в океане,Надежд разбитых груз лежит.Кто может, океан угрюмый,Твои изведать тайны?Кто Толпе мои расскажет думы?Я — или Бог — или никто!
Я твердо все решил: быть до конца в упряжке,Пока не выдохнусь, пока не упаду.И если станет нетерпимо тяжко,То и тогда с дороги не сойду.Я твердо решил: мне ничего не надо —Ни высших должностей, ни славы, ни наград,Лишь чувствовать дыханье друга рядом,Лишь не поймать косой, недобрый взгляд.Я много раз грешил, но никогда не предалНи дела, чем живу, ни дома, ни людей.Я много проскакал, но не оседлан,Хоть сам умею понукать коней.Мы мчимся, нас кнутом подстегивает время,Мы спотыкаемся, но нас не тем судить,Кто даже ногу не поставил в стремяИ только поучает всех, как жить.
Суметь за свою длительную жизнь развить в себе качества, хотя бы немного превосходящие природные наши задатки… Кончить жизнь на уровне более высоком, чем начинал, – это может быть единственной целью человеческой жизни- Александр Исаевич
The Twenty-First-Century Geopolitical Strategy for Eurasia accomplishes Pilsudski’s Prometheism and Intermarum [sic] on a grand scale, by empowering all the small states of Eurasia from Georgia to Mongolia and seeking to integrate them and bring them closer by propagating Western institutions in an Intermarum-type Western-oriented grouping—not between Germany and Russia, but between the great Eurasian powers of the twenty-first century: Russia and China. While the fundamentals of this strategy are not new, they form a unique overall approach to the current challenges facing Western policy makers. The Twenty-First-Century Geopolitical Strategy for Eurasia advocates for greater Western involvement in Eurasia than ever before. It argues that Western involvement and integration is not only possible but strategically imperative, not just in the Black Sea region, but also around the Caspian and Central/Inner Asia. The strategy departs from the traditional emphasis placed on the future of Ukraine and its schismatic domestic politics. Rather, it links Western efforts in Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, China, and Iran into a strategic whole to form an overarching purpose for Western institutions and governments. It is neither hopelessly isolationist nor vaingloriously imperialistic. It is aggressively realistic, informed by geographic constants and the urgent need for the West to renew itself in its own defense. In short, it is a wise strategy—something sorely lacking in the Western attitude towards Eurasia today.from Alexandros Petersen's "The World Island: Eurasian Geopolitics and the Fate of the West" (2011)
[T]he Soviet Union’s collapse, which left the politically connected with tremendous advantages in securing economic assets and taking the reins of a budding capitalist economy. Meanwhile, the absence of strong political institutions meant that political leaders required an economic base, in effect to control institutions that provided patronage and ensured the loyalty of their followers. As a result, the power of post-Soviet politicians has been more a function of their control over patronage than the position printed on their business card. To survive in power, therefore, the leader of a country needed to have a larger patronage structure than anyone else. Because blood is thicker than water, family members of high officials were key to managing these assets. Sadly, however, some suddenly enriched family members did not handle their newfound wealth with grace. Managing wayward children and relatives became a constant headache for post-Soviet leaders. And beyond the family are other, largely invisible grandees who remain largely out of the public view but wield real influence.Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot
If somehow I manage to get home again, I promised God and myself that I would find a quiet piece of land someplace and spend the rest of my life in peace.- Captain Dick Winters
Being small opens us to many vulnerabilities which larger nations do not face [...] But smallness also confers us certain benefits which we should not discount [..] The most important factor is our internal strength, our national life-force. What we must have is a sense of ourselves and of our own separateness and identity. This is not a question of economics or politics or technology. It is a moral question and a spiritual question. To put it in another way, deep inside the heart of every Singaporean, what is he or she? If the sense of being Singaporean is in our very heart and soul, then we will survive even if we are temporarily conquered and occupied, and if we are dispersed the way the Kuwaitis were after the Iraqi army walked into Kuwait in August 1990. We will continue to live on as an idea and that idea will enable us to gather together again on this island. The Jews never lost the idea of Israel since defeat and dispersal by the Romans 2000 years ago. For a long time, they said to each other "next year in Jerusalem". They finally succeeded when the State of Israel was established in 1948. But the Jewish state confronts an opposing idea in Palestine, which is another potent force seeking expression in a physical reality. Until the idea of Israel and the idea of Palestine can co-exist in some way, there will be no enduring peace in the Middle East.Speech by George Yeo at the Temasek Seminar in 1996
Venice instead turned her insularity to advantage. Always sensitive to the requirements of trade, which was her lifeblood, the city-state established a system of administration founded on constitutional principles, the rule of law and the collective interests of her merchants. Slowly but steadily, with each invasion successfully repelled, with each crisis successfully overcome, she developed in her people that famous Venetian spirit that bonded Venetians everywhere together. A tradition of public service supplied the men of ability she needed for effective governance."Venice and Singapore: A Study in Parallels" - George Yeo
His own philosophy, in his own words, has long been a personal inspiration to me. Typically, he credited it to his seafaring grandfather. "The sea, like life itself is a stern taskmaster," he recalled. "The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best, and don't worry--especially about things over which you have no control."Gerald Ford - Remarks at the U.S.S. Nimitz Commissioning Ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia
The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology grows. The character and contour of a terrain may offer opportunities for agriculture, mining, or trade, but only the imagination and initiative of leaders, and the hardy industry of followers, can transform the possibilities into fact; and only a similar combination (as in Israel today) can make a culture take form over a thousand natural obstacles. Man, not the earth, makes civilization."The Lessons of History" by Will and Ariel Durant
I don't pretend that my own military experience matches in any way what others here have been through. I didn't do the most, or run the gravest danger. But I was proud to wear my country's uniform. And my own experiences gave me strong beliefs about America's obligation to keep our national defenses strong."Gore Tells Fellow Veterans He Is Dedicated to Military"
Vietnam certainly matured me in a hurry. It gave me a tolerance for complexity. I didn’t change my conclusions about the war being a terrible mistake, but it struck me that opponents to the war, including myself, really did not take into account the fact that there were an awful lot of South Vietnamese who desperately wanted to hang onto what they called freedom. Coming face to face with those sentiments [in the local people] was something I was naively unprepared for.Al Gore on Homeland Security
