For a writer only one form of patriotism exists: his attitude toward language.

Snobbery? But it's only a form of despair.

I belong to the Russian language. As to the state, from my point of view, the measure of a writer's patriotism is not oaths from a high platform, but how he writes in the language of the people among whom he lives.

Bad literature is a form of treason.

The imprisoning of a writer is the same as the burning of a book.

For boredom speaks the language of time, and it is to teach you the most valuable lesson of your life -- the lesson of your utter insignificance.