Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Quotes

I believe that close association with one who refuses to compromise with circumstances he does not like, is an asset that can never be measured in terms of money.

Any leader has to have a certain amount of steel in them, so I am not that put out being called the Iron Lady.

This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.

Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.

A man of conviction is often more to be desired than a man of experience.

I urge you to hold fast to your standards. I plead with you not to waver.

One of the highest qualities of all true leadership is a high standard of courage. … There has never been time in the Church when its leaders were not required to be courageous men; not alone courageous in the sense that they were able to meet physical dangers, but also in the sense that they were steadfast and true to a clear and upright conviction.

In life, you need some backbone. You need to stand for something.

Not gold, but only man can make a people great and strong; men who, for truth and honor's sake, stand fast and suffer long.

Just remember, strength and courage. If you stand on principle, you'll never lose.

Soyons fermes, purs et fidèles ; au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n'ont pas cédé. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in.]

No more let us alter or falter or palter. From Malta to Yalta, and Yalta to Malta.

Our security is not a matter of weapons alone. The arm that wields them must be strong, the eye that guides them clear, the will that directs them indomitable.

Courage gives a leader the ability to stand straight and not sway, no matter which way the wind blows.

You better stand tall when they're calling you out, don't bend, don't break, and don't back down!

The man who is just and resolute will not be moved from his settled purpose, either by the misdirected rage of his fellow citizens, or by the threats of an imperious tryant.

There is nothing more to be esteemed than a manly firmness and decision of character.

Integrity and firmness is all I can promise; these, be the voyage long or short, never shall forsake me though I be deserted by all men. For of the consolations which are to be derived from these (under any circumstances) the world cannot deprive me.

The just man having a firm grasp of his intentions, neither the heated passions of his fellow men ordaining something awful, nor a tyrant staring him in the face, will shake in his convictions.

Great people aren't those who are happy at times of convienience and content, but of how they are in times of catastrophy and controversy.

No man is good for anything who has not some particle of obstinacy to use upon occasion.

Be strong. Don't be a follower. Always do the right thing.

You can never predict what kind of tough decisions are going to come in front of a President's desk. But if you can trust they will do the right thing, and maybe the hard thing, and maybe not the popular thing, and if you really want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life.

The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds... And he must be ready to choose death before dishonor without making too much song and dance about it.