“"The immutable Russian policy is to get whatever they can with the least possible effort, and then ask for more. They never sacrifice their immediate benefits for future goals. They never take into account what has been said, but what has been done. They try to exact a high price for anything that they understand they have to do in any case. They are immune to ethical, humanitarian and abstract juridical arguments, being affected only by practical and realistic points of view."”

— Juho Kusti Paasikivi

Source: Paasikivi in a private letter (1891) from Novgorod, studying Russian culture on a grant.

Original

Venäläisten muuttumattomana politiikkana on saada, mitä he voivat, niin vähällä kuin mahdollista, ja sitten pyytää lisää. He eivät uhraa koskaan välittömiä etujaan tulevaisuuden päämäärien hyväksi. He eivät kiinnitä koskaan huomiota siihen mitä on sanottu, vaan ainoastaan siihen, mitä on tehty. He pyrkivät saamaan korkean hinnan siitä, minkä ymmärtävät joutuvansa tekemään joka tapauksessa. He ovat immuuneja eettisille, humanitaarisille ja abstraktiin oikeuteen perustuville tekijöille ollen pelkästään käytännöllisten ja realististen näkökohtien vaikutettavissa.

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Juho Kusti Paasikivi 2

7th President of Finland 1870–1956

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Juho Kusti Paasikivi 2

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