quotes

View Quote I studied late to be a starets. I was twenty when this vision came. We peasants get them all the time. The Virgin Mary appears to us. She tells us when to sell our sheep when we want to make a profit. She told me to start walking; so I did. I kept walking throughout Europe and I waited for Her to tell me when to stop walking, but she did not. When I got to Greece, I could walk no more: so I resided in a monastery for two years and then proceeded to walk back to Russia again. Sometimes people ask me "What do I need to become a starets?" and I respond "Good feet."

View Quote [Admiring a big-busted woman] So, you would like to be an opera singer? Yes, you have the chest for it.

View Quote [After his assassination attempt] You silly fools. I thought I could trust you. You silly fools, you can't even kill properly. You're too small to destroy me. Look! [drinks cyanide] Now get up, prince. Get up! [grabs Prince Yusupov] Try. Let's see you try to kill me. I begged Batushka not to start this war. I know who dies. You don't die, the people die. The wise old men, the generals, the ministers. The ones who say, "Do this! Go there!" No mud on their boots. No bullets in their bellies. Where's your rifle, Prince? Why aren't you at the front where the blood is? I'm not a German. I come from the Russian soil, and you fools will never destroy me. Thank God, Russia has sons like me and isn't at the mercy of s**** like you.