Quotes from book
The First Circle

Name: The First Circle
Author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Aleksandr SolzhenitsynOriginal title В круге первом (Russian, 1968)

In the First Circle is a novel by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, released in 1968. A more complete version of the book was published in English in 2009.

“We are all human, and our senses are quicker to prompt us than our reason. Every man gives off a scent, and that scent tells you how to act before your head does.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle

“… it's only on a black day that you begin to have friends.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle

“… you are strong only as long as you don't deprive people of. For a person you've takenfrom us no longer in your power. He's free all over again.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle

“For a country to have a great writer … is like having another government. That’s why no régime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Innokenty, in Ch. 57.
Variant translation: For a country to have a great writer is like having a second government. That is why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.
The First Circle (1968)

“My wish for you… is that your skeptic-eclectic brain be flooded with the light of truth.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle

“If we live in a state of constant fear, can we remain human?”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle

“What is the most precious thing in the world? I see now that it is the knowledge that you have no part in injustice. Injustice is stronger than you, it always was and always will be, but let it not be done through you.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle

“If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being?”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book The First Circle

Source: The First Circle