Author of quotes: Gennady Gladkov

One worthless musician criticized me at a meeting of the Union of Composers of the USSR for writing music for cartoons and nothing about the party and the government: “There is no ideology!” The then head of the union, Tikhon Khrennikov, stood up for me. He said that he himself does not know whether it is good or bad that there is no ideology, but his grandson refuses to eat porridge until they play “The Town Musicians of Bremen” for him. Everyone fell down laughing, and the next day the permit was signed.