Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes
You should never ask anyone for anything. Never- and especially from those who are more powerful than yourself.
Bulgakov, Mikhail. The Master and Margarita. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Penguin Books, 1997, p. 284.
In early WWII, he opposed the Japanese military practice of killing conquered civilian people to instill fear and make them accept occupation. (In this case in occupied Indonesia). He was arrested by the military and sentenced to death, but he never was executed. Though not generally known, there were a number of Japanese who opposed the Japanese military policies and practices. He was one.
The quotation is from Walzer, but the idea was originated by the Jewish Rabbi, Physician and Philosopher Maimonides (1135-1204) who Walzer credits. This idea is really at the historical and philosophical backbone of all welfare reform efforts. Maimonodes, for example, argued that one of the greatest forms of charity is giving a person money or other assistance to start a business.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was a Russian writer, medical doctor and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, which has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.
