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A government is not an old pair of socks that you throw away.

Boris Yeltsin

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Boris Yeltsin
Age: 76 †
Born: 1931
Born: February 1
Died: 2007
Died: April 23
Civil Engineer
Former Russian President
Politician
Throw
Away
Government
Socks
Sock
Pair
Pairs

More quotes by Boris Yeltsin

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Not a single reform effort in Russia has ever been completed.
Boris Yeltsin
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One could see that what you are writing was that today's meeting with President Bill Clinton was going to be a disaster. Now, for the first time, I can tell you that you are a disaster.
Boris Yeltsin
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Russia also declared its independence. This was approved by the Supreme Soviet, and you know and remember that there was the Declaration on the Independence of Russia.
Boris Yeltsin
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We all have an equal interest in stability and security throughout Europe. The years the OSCE has existed, and particularly this year, have given rise to great expectations and at the same time to powerful disappointments.
Boris Yeltsin
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I ask you to forgive me for not fulfilling some hopes of those people who believed that we would be able to jump from the totalitarian past into a bright, rich and civilized future in one go.
Boris Yeltsin
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We Russians are already living, not getting ready to live.
Boris Yeltsin
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I would like to stress here that a lasting peace in the Chechen republic and so-called peace talks with the bandits are not the same thing, and I would ask everyone to make no mistake about that.
Boris Yeltsin
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It is especially important to encourage unorthodox thinking when the situation is critical
Boris Yeltsin
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Gorbachev gave us freedom of worship and freedom of speech and freedom to see what was going on and freedom to vote, but that freedom won't last unless it is underpinned by economic freedom.
Boris Yeltsin
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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
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I understand that it's hard for everyone, but one cannot give in to emotions... we'll have to draw lessons from the current crisis and now we'll have to work on overcoming it.
Boris Yeltsin
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I will not step down, I will not resign, ... I will work to the end of my term in office under the constitution. In the year 2000, there will be presidential elections under the constitution and I will not run in those elections.
Boris Yeltsin
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The most important thing is that Milosevic agreed to sit at the negotiating table with the Kosovo Albanians
Boris Yeltsin
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A politician must have some scruples, a certain decency he cannot smear himself in the mud for the sake of a high ideal.
Boris Yeltsin
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Let's not talk about Communism. Communism was just and idea, just pie in the sky.
Boris Yeltsin
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Storm clouds of terror and dictatorship are gathering over the whole country... They must not be allowed to bring eternal night.
Boris Yeltsin
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We, Russia, are prepared to work with others. I am convinced that stability and security in Europe cannot be considered without taking Russia into account.
Boris Yeltsin
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There are numerous bugbears in the profession of a politician. First, ordinary life suffers. Second, there are many temptations to ruin you and those around you. And I suppose third, and this is rarely discussed, people at the top generally have no friends.
Boris Yeltsin
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We are well aware from which countries and through which countries the terrorists are receiving support. In the immediate future I shall be calling upon the leaders of these states to put a stop to this kind of activity.
Boris Yeltsin
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There were no strategic mistakes that could affect Russia's history and it further development. No, there were no such mistakes. Tactical errors were made in some less significant options, problems and so on. But, on the whole, Russia embarked on a correct path and it changed.
Boris Yeltsin