The Russian Interpreter

Somewhere down there in the haze were the Valdai Hills, and the headwaters of the Dnieper and the Volga. Soon they would be above Latvia and the Gulf of Riga, then the shallow fresh waters of the open Baltic. Down there – the sweet blessing of frontiers, setting some bounds to distrust and corrupt dealing. Up here, no end to them was in sight.

How can we politick safely against each other unless we can be sure that our true strength and intentions are known?

Money isn’t the only thing that people want. Some people value contentment above wealth. Some power. Some fame. Some obscurity. Also it depends what’s in short supply. There are commodities in shorter supply than money in this country.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in life, it’s that success goes to the man who knows when to modify his general principles to meet the situation in hand.

I’m not preaching, Sasha, but in a sense our interest in personalities is the ultimate expression of our belief in respect for the individual.’

‘Of course,’ said Sasha, ‘we have had the so-called cult of personality here….’

‘Our personalities are not in positions of power, Sasha.  A respect for pure personality without function – that’s what we are aiming at.’

I happen to believe that there’s nothing more important in the world today than the establishment of trust and understanding between Russia and the West.

In the lower depths of the academic world, which he inhabited, jobs were applied and competed for, not offered.

But the bright young people here began to see that mavericks and rebels like Yevtushenko created not a worse but a better image of Russia in Western eyes. All right, they said, the West refuses to accept that Russia is contented and monolithic. But perhaps it might accept the idea that Russia is a turbulent, intellectually vital country seething with new ideas.

The thing I noticed was how much in demand the Russians always were when they were over – everyone wanted them to come to parties, give lectures, appear on television quiz shows, and so on.

I believe that everyone is of interest to the public. I believe that everyone has a story to tell, a point of view that’s worth putting across, a personality that the public would be interested to explore.

One day the bills fall due and one discovers one’s own deceit.

‘You must learn to accept yourself.’

‘It’s the circumstances around me that make me discontented.’

‘The circumstances around you are part of you. People carry their lives about with them like tortoises carry their shells.’

Manning found the grave aphorism a solace. Though he supposed that she might equally well have said: ‘One’s circumstances are insignificant. People shed their lives like snakes slough their skins.’ He supposed he would have found that equally comforting.

- After all, a man is master of himself.  Remember Bazarov. “He who scorns his suffering inevitably conquers it.’”

- And look what happened to him – he died.

But deceivers must expect to be deceived. Spies can’t complain if they’re spied on.