Life is a great happiness, and it is not necessary to prove the presence of God, it is absolutely evident.

The Bolshoy Theater has changed over the years of restoration and reconstruction. On the one hand, it returned to the imperial splendour, it became incredibly beautiful.

  Showing only dirt and cruelty on the screen, we create awareness, imposing it as an integral component of life.

The main reason of the health care crisis is that federal government has actually withdrawn from the responsibility for population health care, shifting it onto regions and municipalities, which do not have sufficient funds for it.

The history of Russia is directed not by individuals, but by people. And, participating in this process, people are very reserved, indifferent to what is happening. Main reason for this I see in a tremendous dispersion of people in space. We cannot absolutely afford such a great territory.

We want to create in Verkhoturje a model of construction site, a kind of school where our masters could, in practice, pass on the specific skills in reconstruction of cultural heritage to their Russian counterparts, to share some professional nuances

Professional should be a possessed person. Not in a bad way, not demoniac. One should always try to set up unrealistic goals, should not follow the path traveled.

This year I was 75, I’m still alive and kicking, for the time being not going to die. And I swear to you that for 75 years I never understood what the theater is. Of course, you can spread shoe polish on your face and ask: “Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona?” But not this is the case.

If I wake up one day and discover the verity, how the brain functions, I will immediately surrender to psychiatrists.

We ourselves as a nation are guilty of everything that happened. And we ourselves should be responsible for what will happen. Recognition of the risk of degeneration — this horrific fact of life of the Russian people — is the first step towards recovery.