Alexandr Ivanovič Gercen citáty

„Vývoj ženy je tajemstvím. Pořád nic - paráda a tance, hadí jazýček a četba románů, očka a slzy - a najednou se objeví gigantická vůle, zralá myšlenka, kolosální rozum.“

„Člověk čte knihu, ale chápe jen to, co má v hlavě.“

„Příroda není do té míry rozumná, aby s člověkem bojovala.“

„Ne srdce, ale rozum je srdce pravdy.“

„Měně čtěte, méně se učte, více myslete!“

„Člověk je ochoten přijmout jakoukoliv hodnost, ale hodnosti člověka dosud nedorostl.“

„Lidé se odvracejí od vědy tak jako vědátoři od lidí.“

„Vztahy počaté lehce a ve větru se málokdy pozvedají výše jak k ložnici a kuchyni.“

„Zapomínat se ani nemá. Je to slabost, je to jakási lež. Minulost má svá práva, je to fakt. Je třeba se s ní vyrovnat a nikoli zapomenout.“

„Dějiny lidstva jsou pokračováním dějin přírody.“

„Brodil se krví, ale krev ho nepotřísnila.“

„…ideál rytíře se na západě proměnil v ideál hokynáře.“

„Neexistuje chronické štěstí, tak jako není netající led.“

„Čin uvědomělé lásky je tvůrčí.“

„Láska je pyšný a svěží kvítek, věnčící a završující život individua. Ale jako všechny ostatní květy i ona musí být rozvinuta jednou stranou, a to tou lepší, ke společnému nebi.“

„… vědomí vůbec není něco vedlejšího pro přírodu, nýbrž je to nejvyšší stupeň jejího vývoje.“

“Socialism and rationalism are to this day the touchstones of humanity, the rocks which lie in the course of revolution and science. Groups of swimmers, driven by reflection or the waves of circumstance against these rocks, break up at once into two camps, which, under different disguises, remain the same throughout all history, and may be distinguished either in a great political party or in a group of a dozen young men. One represents logic; the other, history: one stands for dialectics; the other for evolution. Truth is the main object of the former, and feasibility of the latter.”

“Compassionate love may be strong. It sobs, it burns, then it wipes away its tears – and it does nothing.”

“A religion of life had come to replace a religion of penance and emaciation, of fasting and prayer. The crucified body had risen in its turn and was no longer abashed Man had reached a harmonious unity: he had discovered that he is a single being not made, like a pendulum, of two different metals,= that check each other; he realised that the foe in his members had ceased to exist.”

“I have a sincere pity for any nation where old heads grow on young shoulders; youth is a matter, not only of years, but of temperament.”

“An empire that cannot distance itself from such a gruesome sin that so deeply affects its internal structure does not have the right to education, to future development and participation in history.”

“The peasants will be emancipated if there is a future for Rus and for the Slavic world.”

“It is both painful and shameful to be a slave. But it is even more distressing and painful to acknowledge that our slavery is necessary and normal and that it is a natural phenomenon. A great sin rests on our souls. We have inherited it but are not responsible for it. We are keeping our inheritance unjustly. Like a heavy rock it pushes us to the bottom, and with it around our necks we cannot swim. WE are slaves because our forefathers sold their human dignity for inhuman rights which we now enjoy. We are slaves because we are the masters. We are slaves because we are nobles, that is, nobles without any faith in our tights. We are slaves because we hold our brothers in slavery. They are our equals in birth, blood and language. We will never enjoy freedom as long as the wretched conditions of serfdom oppress us and as long as the hideous shameful, and totally unjust slavery of our peasants exists among us.”

“Personal freedom is a magnificent thing; by it and by it alone can a nation achieve its true freedom. Man must respect and honor his freedom in himself no less than in his neighbor or in the people at large.”