“In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.”

As quoted in The Observer (29 December 1974).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 28, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State." by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn photo
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 120
Russian writer 1918–2008

Related quotes

Sören Kierkegaard photo
Tom Tancredo photo

“Look at what has happened to Miami. It has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America. You would certainly say you're in a Third World country.”

Tom Tancredo (1945) American politician

Furor Grows Over Tancredo's 'Third World' Comments http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_334130336.html (November 30, 2006).

Friedrich Nietzsche photo

“Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.”

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, Part I, Chapter 11, "Vom neuen Götzen" ("The New Idol"). Published in four parts between 1883 and 1891 Another translation: “But the state lieth in all languages of good and evil; and whatever it saith it lieth; and whatever it hath it hath stolen.”

Noam Chomsky photo
Learned Hand photo

“The history of man has just begun; in the aeons which lie before him lie limitless hope or limitless despair. The choice is his; the present choice is ours. It is worth the trial.”

Learned Hand (1872–1961) American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge

"A Pledge of Allegiance" - speech for "I Am an Amercan Day" Central Park, New York, New York. (20 May 1945) Hand credited H. G. Wells with inspiring some of the ideas expressed in this speech.
Extra-judicial writings
Context: We may not stop until we have done our part to fashion a world in which there shall be some share of fellowship; which shall be better than a den of thieves. Let us not disguise the difficulties; and, above all, let us not content ourselves with nobel aspirations, counsels of perfection, and self-righteous advice to others. We shall need the wisdom of the serpent; we shall have to be content with short steps; we shall be obliged to give and take; we shall face the strongest passions of mankind — our own not the least; and in the end we shall have fabricated an imperfect instrument. But we shall not wholly have failed; we shall have gone forward, if we bring to our task a pure and chastened spirit, patience, understanding, sympathy, forbearance, generosity, fortitude, and, above all, an inflexible determination. The history of man has just begun; in the aeons which lie before him lie limitless hope or limitless despair. The choice is his; the present choice is ours. It is worth the trial.

Mohamed Nasheed photo

“Even the figure of 40 is quite big for a country the size of the Maldives which has a population of just 3,50,000. Even one Maldivian becoming a terrorist and killing people is enough to shake our society.”

Mohamed Nasheed (1967) Maldivian politician, 4th president of the Maldives

On the threat of ISIS in the Maldives, quoted on TheHindu, "India, Maldives to finalise pact to fight Islamic State" http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-maldives-to-finalise-pact-to-fight-islamic-state/article8353075.ece, March 15, 2016.

Sergey Lavrov photo

“In many Western countries, everyday Russophobia has become of an unprecedented nature, and, to our great regret, is encouraged by government circles in a number of countries.”

Sergey Lavrov (1950) Russian politician and Foreign Minister

"West has declared ‘total war’ on Russia: Lavrov" https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ukraines-zelensky-accuses-russia-of-genocide-in-donbas-onslaught-174101, Hurriyet Daily news, 27 May 2022
About the Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022

Gregor Strasser photo
Jacy Reese photo

“Let’s keep in mind not just those beings who won the metaphysical lottery by being born as Homo sapiens, but also those who lie furthest outside our moral circle. They need us the most.”

Jacy Reese (1992) American social scientist

[Our treatment of animals is stalling human progress, February 19, 2018, Quartz, https://qz.com/1209936/our-treatment-of-animals-is-stalling-human-progress/]

Related topics