Evening with Vladimir Solovyov (№ 414546)

The great advantage of Russia and Russian society over the West and Western society is that we actually know them much better than they do us. I have many friends in the West, that's my profession. They don't know anything. They don't read anything. They're not interested in anything. We know American literature, read Hemingway, Mark Twain, modern literature, watch movies, listen to music. They don't know anything about it. To a certain extent, this is a position. From this I conclude - there is a dependence, but there is also an advantage. What they are doing, in my opinion, shows their inability at a critical moment to understand our psychology and how we will act. A classic example is Napoleon's campaign, when he came to Moscow and began writing letters to Alexander. He sincerely thought that if he occupied Moscow, that's it, a truce. To which Alexander said: no, the truce will be when you are expelled from Russia.