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The Soviet Union could not exist without the image of the empire. The image of the empire could not exist without the image of force. The USSR ended the moment the first hammer pounded the Berlin Wall.

— Boris Yeltsin The Struggle for Russia (1994)

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More quotes by Boris Yeltsin

You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it.

A man must live like a great brilliant flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is far better than a mean little flame.

Storm clouds of terror and dictatorship are gathering over the whole country... They must not be allowed to bring eternal night.

I am convinced that the moment is coming when, with its message of eternal, universal values, it will come to the aid of our society.

Against the Grain (1990)

You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.

All Boris Yeltsin quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Boris Yeltsin (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.