Svetlana Alexievich Quotes

- Journalist | May 31, 1948 -

Freedom is not an instantaneous holiday, as we once dreamed. It is a road. A long road. We know this now.

Svetlana Alexievich

FreedomRoadLongHolidayKnowNow

There are horrible periods in which entire nations sink into the plague of darkness and hatred.

Svetlana Alexievich

DarknessHatredPlagueHorribleSink

I used to live in a village, and I always loved listening to old people. Unfortunately, it was always women who were talking, because after the war, very few men were around. I spent my entire life living in the village. The village is always talking about itself; people are talking to each other as the village makes sense of itself.

Svetlana Alexievich

LifeWomenLiveMenWarPeople

I don't love great ideas. I love the little human being.

Svetlana Alexievich

LoveGreatIdeasHumanHuman Being

I don't remember men in our village after World War II: during the war, one out of four Belarusians perished, either fighting at the front or with the partisans. After the war, we children lived in a world of women. What I remember most is that women talked about love, not death.

Svetlana Alexievich

LoveWomenChildrenMenDeathWar

Why do I write? I have been called a writer of catastrophes, but that isn't true. I am always looking for words of love. Hate will not save us. Only love.

Svetlana Alexievich

LoveHateWordsI AmLookingTrue

Nobody thought the Soviet Union would collapse; it was a shock for everyone.

Svetlana Alexievich

ThoughtNobodyEveryoneSoviet Union

A totalitarian power is mainly busy in keeping itself alive.

Svetlana Alexievich

PowerBusyAliveTotalitarianItself

Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of a great empire.

Svetlana Alexievich

AgeGreatWarPeopleSpeakEvents

Nothing, not even human life, is more precious to us than our myths about ourselves.

Svetlana Alexievich

LifeNothingMoreHumanHuman Life

Showing just the dark side doesn't always work. The important thing is to show what we can learn from dark things, what good we find there.

Svetlana Alexievich

WorkGoodLearnFindDarkDark Side

I want to live at home. You can only write at home.

Svetlana Alexievich

HomeLiveYouWantWriteOnly

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