Letter to Reverdy Johnson (26 July 1862)
1860s
“I repent and ask for forgiveness for greed. I longed for riches, not thinking that this is to the detriment of others. Covering my sins with the words "historic moment," "brilliant combinations" and "tremendous opportunities," I forgot about my fellow citizens.… I repent and ask forgiveness for trampling free speech. Justifying myself with the desire to save Russia from the red-brown plague, I defined the policy of the country's chief information mouthpiece, neglecting democratic values.… I repent and ask for forgiveness for bringing Vladimir Putin to power. I should have seen, but could not see in him the future of a greedy tyrant and usurper, a man who trampled freedom and stopped the development of Russia. Many of us did not recognize it then, but that does not excuse me. I'm sorry.”
Facebook posting (26 February 2012)
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Boris Berezovsky 4
Russian mathematician 1946–2013Related quotes
Statement at his trial, rejecting the assertion he was a traitor to Edward I of England (23 August 1305), as quoted in Lives of Scottish Worthies (1831) by Patrick Fraser Tytler, p. 279
Variant: I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.
Context: I can not be a traitor, for I owe him no allegiance. He is not my Sovereign; he never received my homage; and whilst life is in this persecuted body, he never shall receive it. To the other points whereof I am accused, I freely confess them all. As Governor of my country I have been an enemy to its enemies; I have slain the English; I have mortally opposed the English King; I have stormed and taken the towns and castles which he unjustly claimed as his own. If I or my soldiers have plundered or done injury to the houses or ministers of religion, I repent me of my sin; but it is not of Edward of England I shall ask pardon.
Source: Daughter of the East : an autobiography
quoted in B.R. Ambedkar, Pakistan or The Partition of India (1946)
A Literary History of Persia, Vol. 2, p. 123 https://archive.org/details/a-literary-history-of-persia-vol-2-1964
Poetry
Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913), Jnana
“For my part I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.”
Response to a heckler asking him to state his beliefs, as quoted in TIME magazine (1 November 1963)