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

— Boris Yeltsin

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Variants

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

More quotes by Boris Yeltsin

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.

Liberty sets the mind free, fosters independence and unorthodox thinking and ideas. But it does not offer instant prosperity or happiness and wealth to everyone. This is something that politicians in particular must keep in mind.

Russia and the Independent States (1993)

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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.