Yevgeny Zamyatin Quotes

As contemporary history reminds us we are human to the extent that we are able to chose between alternatives.

We have no choice, we must all die. How we live, however, is entirely of our choosing.

To have a choice at all is to be free - even when the choice is between two terrible things.

My idea of heaven is not writing.

Man is condemned to be free.

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.

Everybody has their own free choice to do what they want.

But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.

As you live out your desolation, you can be either unhappy or happy. Having that choice is what constitutes your freedom.

Freedom is a ladder: one side of the ladder reaches hell, the other side touches heaven. It is the same ladder; the choice is yours.

I do believe in choice, the freedom of choice and carving out your own happiness.

I live as I choose or I will not live at all.

We are always confronted with choice.

Death is not the opposite of life, but the opposite of choice.

How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?

Leroy interrupted Chantal's fantasies: "Freedom? As you live our your desolation, you can be either unhappy or happy. Having that choice is what constitutes your freedom. You're free to melt your own individuality into the cauldron of the multitude either with a feeling of defeat or euphoria.

The essence of man is his freedom. Sin is committed in that freedom. Sin can therefore not be attributed to a defect in his essence. It can only be understood as a self-contradiction, made possible by the fact of his freedom but not following necessarily from it.

There is always a choice, even if the alternatives don't appear to be equal.

Choice. It's the word that allows yes and the word that makes no possible. It's the word that puts the free in freedom and takes obligation out of the mix. It's the word upon which adventure, exhilaration, and authenticity depend. It's the word that the cocoon whispers to the caterpillar.

The pleasure is our choice.

The certainty of a God giving meaning to life far surpasses in attractiveness the ability to behave badly with impunity. The choice would not be hard to make. But there is no choice and that is where the bitterness comes in. The absurd does not liberate; it binds.

There is no such thing as no choice. There is always a choice. The only question is whether it's a bearable one.

Free from what? What does that matter to Zarathustra! Clearly, however, shall your eye show to me: free for what?

People do whatever they want to do, y'know.

Humanity is at a fork in the road and we can no longer stand there staring at the map pondering which direction to take. It is hardly a choice, after all. One Road leads to a global fascist dictatorship that would control every aspect of our lives, including our thoughts. The other will open the door to freedom and potential on a scale never experienced in the 'world' as we have known it. Hard one, isn't it? A choice between a prison and a paradise?