There are eight different breeds of peacock. I have them all.

In Georgia, people had already understood that communism couldn't survive, and I came to the institute in Moscow, and people still believed in it. They were completely different people, and I found it very difficult psychologically.

It was not my wish to come into politics. I was not a public person; I preferred to spend my birthdays with family and friends. But the 2008 elections were fraudulent, so I decided to finance the opposition to make them stronger.

I was writing my Ph.D. in the late 1980s and was keeping an eye on what was happening in the world. It became obvious to me that Russia couldn't live without computers. I think I worked this out a year before anyone else. I started looking for people who could help import them.

All the therapists would tell me was that I was the only healthy person they knew.

I get no pleasure from politics; it's not in my character.