Svetlana Alexievich quotes

Svetlana Alexievich is a Belarusian investigative journalist and writer, renowned for her documentary-style works. Her books, blending oral history and literature, explore the complexities of life in the Soviet Union and its aftermath. She has received numerous international awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature. Here are 7 of her quotes:

What can art accomplish? The purpose of art is to accumulate the human within the human being.

Svetlana Alexievich

Is there anything more frightening than people?

Svetlana Alexievich

Suffering is our capital, our natural resource. Not oil or gas – but suffering. It is the only thing we are able to produce consistently. I'm always looking for the answer: why doesn't our suffering convert into freedom? Is it truly all in vain? Chaadayev was right: Russia is a country without memory, it's a space of total amnesia, a virgin consciousness for criticism and reflection.

Svetlana Alexievich

I will take the liberty of saying that we missed the chance we had in the 1990s. The question was posed: what kind of country should we have? A strong country, or a worthy one where people can live decently? We chose the former – a strong country. Once again we are living in an era of power. Russians are fighting Ukrainians. Their brothers. My father is Belarusian, my mother, Ukrainian. That's the way it is for many people. Russian planes are bombing Syria ... A time full of hope has been replaced by a time of fear. The era has turned around and headed back in time. The time we live in now is second-hand ... Sometimes I am not sure that I've finished writing the history of the "Red" man.

Svetlana Alexievich

Death is the fairest thing in the world. No one's ever gotten out of it. The earth takes everyone-the kind, the cruel, the sinners. Aside from that, there's no fairness on earth.

Svetlana Alexievich

I drove to a hospital for Afghan civilians with a group of nurses – we brought presents for the children. Toys, candy, cookies. I had about five teddy bears. We arrived at the hospital, a long barracks. No one has more than a blanket for bedding. A young Afghan woman approached me, holding a child in her arms. She wanted to say something – over the last ten years almost everyone here has learned to speak a little Russian – and I handed the child a toy, which he took with his teeth. "Why his teeth?" I asked in surprise. She pulled the blanket off his tiny body – the little boy was missing both arms. "It was when your Russians bombed."

Svetlana Alexievich