CHAPTER 4. VOICES OF THE PAST

April 4, 1973.

"You know, Michel, there's a certain charm to our work. Just yesterday we were placing a statue in one of our city's squares, and today, in another square, we're tearing another one down. True, I think the builders who built the World Trade Center in New York, which is scheduled to open today, had no fewer thoughts about their work than we do... and yet, despite the fact that we're not that kind of professionals, our work contains no less of a metaphysical essence than the work of those I mentioned before!"

"Why are you surprised, Florentin? Every time and every era has its own statues and idols! The World Trade Center in New York is also a kind of statue and idol: it testifies to the very thoughts and feelings of the era in which it was built... Our statue is less refined, but no less symbolic."

"But when they put up this statue—a statue of a man whose name censorship now forbids us to say—everyone admired him and considered him a national hero. And now, fifty years later, this man is despised, and all memory of him is being destroyed... And yet he died long before those who honored and despised him; he died more than a hundred and fifty years ago... long before the closest descendants who erected this statue for him... and long before those who are now tearing it down."

"In this statue's place, if you know your history well, there was a slightly different statue, which was also torn down by our ancestors. They tore it down just as this statue will be torn down, as will all the statues of the future! The pedestals remain, but the statues change... The fate of all statues and idols is the same—they will be crushed and destroyed by future generations. It's only a matter of time and how much the ideology of the current government has changed."

"But when they put up this statue, it was considered a good thing... and it's also considered a good thing now that they're taking it down."

"There's your answer to the question of what's good and what's bad in this world."

"But are there any unshakeable statues in this world, like the Roman or Greek ones?"

"Yes, but even they, without changing their bodies, have changed their heads!"

"What's this?! Look, Michel! There's something under the statue! Some kind of writings... '...a message to the future for descendants'... '51 quotes from 51 people now living for those who will live after us'... 'to be opened in 50 years'... 'each quote will be a kind of prediction for the next 50 years from the moment this secret is opened'... Let's read these messages quickly!"

1. Most often in the modern world, the sword of human justice falls on the heads of the poor and those who cannot defend themselves—the rich and influential are often saved by an accumulation of a certain liquid substance.
2. Human society is the most paradoxical and chaotic mixture of all that exists: it contains all human vices and virtues.
3. Rulers often like to talk about their crimes as the greatest and most necessary actions for the people entrusted to them and for human society as a whole.
4. Those who see and understand this world do not need masks, for they are alone.
5. Those who are proud and vain on the battlefield one day shed extremely bitter tears the next.
6. Someone who inherits wealth will never understand someone who became rich after living a significant part of their life in poverty.
7. Sometimes, for the sake of your own well-being, you should maintain a relationship with a powerful, corrupt person, for they have the power to destroy that well-being, which you may have created so painstakingly.
8. In spring you will not see old leaves on a tree—so do not drag your past behind you or bring it up where it is inappropriate.
9. Sometimes a woman needs to be alone—a farmer doesn't always work in the field, but leaves it to exist on its own, albeit under his constant, close supervision.
10. “Ah, if only we had known that our actions or our inaction would lead to this reality...” “You should have thought about that earlier...”
11. Those close to people in power often have no less power than the people in power themselves.
12. In the modern world, it is not common to bequeath a debt of gratitude to anyone—it is common to bequeath obligations, and of the most unpleasant and negative kind.
13. Men act as they do largely because they don't understand women, but even if they did, most of them would still act as they do.
14. Being able to read and write is not enough to be considered educated—you also have to know how to speak and, most importantly, how to be silent.
15. When a tree has dried up, it cannot bear any fruit: neither good nor bad.
16. My reflections won't bring me wealth—because of my reflections, I don't need that wealth.
17. In this world, there is conscious choice and unconscious choice. Conscious is when we see the pros and cons of something with our sight and reason. Unconscious is when we see with our metaphysical gaze, with our eyes physically closed. In order to make unconsciously correct choices, you need to develop your being and intuition—to trust yourself even when society is against you and no one believes you: then most of these choices will be correct.
18. Why, when a person's face is illegally used in advertising or anywhere else, do they go to court with a lawsuit for a violation of their rights, but when any other part of their body is used—they don't? Why does the face identify a person, and not their hand or foot? Why does a person not want their face, specifically, to be in the public eye, and not any other body part?
19. How do you know when a state is in distress? It is manifested first of all when it begins to ask not what you are writing about, but in what language you are writing. This is how states lose future Nobel laureates, scientists, and others who could have elevated and glorified it.
20. When my friend and I tried, however strangely, to explain something in this world, even the smallest event, to ourselves, most people considered us crazy.
21. I don't like meeting new people—I am quite enough for myself: this well is inexhaustible in its depth.
22. Not believing that she returned my feelings, I thought it was all a dream, not a reality.
23. He who does not pay attention to the details often does not understand global processes, events, and things.
24. My soul now reminds me of a desert in which insatiably hungry lion-feelings wander in chaos.
25. Everyone should choose and select the words in their speech with the same care with which a builder selects and chooses the cornerstones for their structure.
26. The true enemies of history are by no means criminals, politicians, or statesmen, but historians.
27. He who doesn't want to scald his mouth with hot food at breakfast should either get up earlier or make a certain effort to quickly cool the food down.
28. To corrupt humanity, you don't need to ban books: you need to publish so many and with such different content that people themselves get entangled in these webs, skillfully woven by a thoughtless chaos.
29. Those who study religion are not necessarily believers.
30. A great number of beasts in this world have the form and appearance of people.
31. We owe everything we have now to Rome—it brought into our lives not only exceptional virtues but also exquisite vices.
32. Hide the truth! Clothe it in anything—books, movies, music!—but never, never leave it naked!
33. Both the worst and the best women in this world have, at least once in their lives, sincerely wished to love and be loved.
34. Never show that you have something when you don't.
35. If you don't want to be a victim in this world, then you should choose any other role.
36. He who carries out barbaric orders that result in the deaths of people should not have the right to be pardoned on the grounds that he was merely following orders.
37. He who cannot control his words and speech should cover his lips with his hands, for otherwise, others' hands may cover them.
38. When we dislike something, that is our subjective attitude toward objective reality and objective facts.
39. Sometimes, coming to the truth is harmful.
40. Our most frequent rivals in life are those who are most like us, for they wish to achieve similar goals. For example—Hitler and Stalin... or a slightly different example... our competitor for a girl's heart also finds her dear or also wishes to win her.
41. Nothing in this world possesses any negative or positive qualities—these qualities are assigned to events, things, beings, and deeds only by people.
42. When everyone at court takes bribes, not taking them is considered bad form and a violation of the established world order.
43. There is nothing I want more in this world than to become invisible: not at all to do bad or good deeds, but to do nothing at all.
44. Excessive maternal care and boundless paternal affection often lead people to the gallows.
45. Only those sciences that are always capable of being useful to humanity stand the test of time.
46. A good fruit clings to the tree of life, which is the personification of God, while a rotten fruit falls from it.
47. In others, we admire and celebrate what we lack ourselves.
48. If a thought about committing a crime arises in a person, no matter how much they regret it, the fact will not go away, and this landmark in the history of that human being can never be erased—it leaves its mark.
49. Do not argue about religion and do not try to prove anything—let people interpret it themselves: their metaphysical illiteracy will destroy their physical nature.
50. A dam should not be built where the water is stronger than man: even if this force is temporarily and locally tamed, it will still, sooner or later, show its true nature.
51. If a person doesn't know the definition and meaning of the word betrayal, it doesn't mean that he is not a traitor or has never betrayed anyone.