Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)
It is late at night, but I cannot turn in for sleep without acknowledging today’s passing of a great man, Alexander Sozhenitsyn.
Make sure to grab onto and read the obits about Solzhenitsyn that will come forth in the press in the next day or two. If you know little or nothing of the man, grab a quick Wikipedia bite, and then launch into some reading of his speeches.
Where to start? Why not go right to “the big one”, his 1978 Harvard commencement address. Being in exile from his native Russia on account of his political views, you might think that he would rail against Soviet Communism in such a setting.
Instead, he spoke prophetically and powerfully about the great lack of courage and conviction characterizing Western society. Softness and comfort and ease had become (and obviously still is) the national pastime.
Here are a few some powerful quotes to get you thirsty for more words from Solzhenitsyn:
• Harvard’s motto is “Veritas.” Many of you have already found out and others will find out in the course of their lives that truth eludes us if we do not concentrate with total attention on its pursuit. And even while it eludes us, the illusion still lingers of knowing it and leads to many misunderstandings. Also, truth is seldom pleasant; it is almost invariably bitter. There is some bitterness in my speech today, too. But I want to stress that it comes not from an adversary but from a friend.
• A Decline in Courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party and of course in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society.
• A society which is based on the letter of the law and never reaches any higher is taking very scarce advantage of the high level of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations, there is an atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing man’s noblest impulses.
• It is time, in the West, to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.
• Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas.
Scott Lamb pastored Providence Baptist Church in St. Louis for seven years, and now serves as Director of Research for the President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. 
Matthew 10:34-36, in instructions to his disciples to bring truth to the “lost sheep” of Israel, Jesus said:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
He was an interesting man, although I don’t if I would call him great.
I always find it interesting how someone from another culture has to talk about how the West does not respect the ancient societies of the world. They always forget the idea that maybe it is not in our “West” culture to do so. Just because tradition, culture, character, or whatver you want to call it is old doesn’t make it better or more worthy of respect any more than if it is new. Granted some of his comments were reflected in colonization during the 1700s and 1800s, but this activity is not limited to those countries or that time frame.
His cowardace comments were fundamentaly flawed because he assumes (as would I had I lived in the USSR) that the power resides in government here. It does not. You can talk about the rich or about politicians but in the end the people still have the power. Is America not involved in Darfur because the government is yellow? Or is it that the people have not clamored for it? In fact, if there is ONE thing you can count on it is the politician watching the mood and opinion of the general public. His comments on “irresponsible freedom” also show his upbringing. He was an astute observer incapable of rendering an impartial opinion.
His statements may have been more realistic and relevant back in the day, but they have gone the way of the Dodo. If you want to read timeless words, read Thomas Jefferson…
Tim,
60 million died under the Soviet Union. Solzhenitsyn spent 8 years in the Gulag. He then wrote under threat of arrest and persecution and death, but wrote against Stalin anyway.
That is not a man who is simply “interesting.” That is a man of moral vision and greatness.
I’ve been fascinated by Russian history since I was introduced to the subject as a College student. Solzhenitsyn was a seminal figure in the soviet era, and he will be remembered far longer than some of the ‘more important’ ones.
What I found most interesting was his willingness to go back to Russia in the late 90’s. His love of his country is something that is hard for us to understand. There is no doubt that the world has lost a great voice.
His comments about how ‘western democracy’ will never translate into Russian is so true. There is no way. The combination of Russian Orthodox faith, the most massive national land area in the world (11 time zones, I think), and 1000 years of autocrats would tend to mitigate against anything resembling what we’d call representative democracy.
Maybe we could take a lesson in Patriotism from him.
The sudden demise of this great man has left the nation in shock.Many people were fascinated by his writings. People have created his profile on http://peopleforever.org/nfhomepage.aspx?NFID=947
please visit his profile to know more about him and to contribute more so that everybody should know about this great personality.
Scott, he went through a lot, and experienced things that no one should have to experience. That makes him interesting, it does not make him great. With all respect to you, don’t take the word of a magazine cover or a blog author. I have read some of his stuff and find his conclusions narrow and flawed. He was more Plato than Newton, observing and commenting but not bothering to find out if what he said was real world or not. Anyone can do that. People read his stuff because he was from the evil empire during the Cold War…
Tim,
I always love it when someone says, “With all due respect to you,” right before hurling an insulting statement.
That was added in there to let you know I still respect you and appreciate you taking the time to comment even though your post read like a magazine cover. I still have to call em like I see em, sorry.
I was hoping you would have added more to this last post, defending your position or something like that.
Have a nice weekend. (no “insult” to follow).