272 books
—
246 voters
1977
“
Two Leningrad women were summoned to the police station. Had they been at a party with some men? Yes. Had sexual intercourse taken place? (This had already been established with the aid of a reliable informer.) Er—yes. Right, then, which is it: did you take part in the sexual act voluntarily or against your will? If voluntarily, we shall have to regard you as prostitutes, you will hand over your passports and get out of Leningrad in forty-eight hours. If it was against your will, you must bring
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”
― The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books V-VII
― The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books V-VII
“
For the gods have very sharp ears for boasts, or for declarations of happiness and self-satisfaction, or for assertions of a firm intention to do this or that, or for statements that this or that must surely happen, or any other words hinting that a man is in the slightest control of his own destiny. And the gods are jealous, easily angered, perverse, and swift to thwart.
”
― Swords and Ice Magic
― Swords and Ice Magic
