“There’s no greater sin than frittering your life away, Vadya. They don’t have the remotest notion that the goal of human existence might be something other than to live as long as possible, in as much comfort as possible. (…)
“What these youngsters want is to be released from triviality, to escape from boredom. (…)
“The main thing is to summon greatness. To avoid extinction, every people needs to believe that it holds the key to the world’s salvation, that it exists to take the head of the line – ahead of all other nations!”
Giuliano da Empoli – The Wizard of the Kremlin (Pushkin Press)
Writer Between Worlds 