In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
A totalitarian power is mainly busy in keeping itself alive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Totalitarian regimes focus on their own survival rather than the well-being of their citizens.
Svetlana Alexievich's quote highlights the essence of totalitarianism, where the ruling power prioritizes its own existence and domination over the needs and rights of the populace. It suggests that such governments are often more concerned with maintaining control and suppressing dissent than with fostering a healthy and prosperous society.
Themes
TotalitarianismPowerSurvivalGovernmentControl
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about governance, one might say, 'As Svetlana Alexievich noted, a totalitarian power is mainly busy in keeping itself alive.'
More from Svetlana Alexievich
All quotes βThe subjects I wanted to write about - the mystery of the human soul, evil - didn't interest newspapers, and news reporting bored me.
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'Women's' war has its own colors, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. There are no heroes and incredible feats; there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.
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There is no need to give in to the compromise that totalitarian regimes always count on.
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I've been searching for a genre that would be most adequate to my vision of the world to convey how my ear hears and my eyes see life. I tried this and that, and finally, I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves. But I don't just record a dry history of events and facts; I'm writing a history of human feelings.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
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