Perestroika Quotes

Every part of our program of perestroika - and the program as a whole, for that matter - is fully based on the principle of more socialism and more democracy. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

I was among one of the first entrepreneurs to start building their own private enterprise when Perestroika began in Russia and the state initiated its first market-oriented reforms. ~ Yelena Baturina

According to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible ... The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist construction both in theory and in practice. We want more socialism and, therefore, more democracy. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

Sometimes people ask me why I began perestroika. Were the causes basically domestic or foreign? The domestic reasons were undoubtedly the main ones, but the danger of nuclear war was so serious that it was a no less significant factor. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

'Angels in America' - which is composed of two three-hour plays, 'Millennium Approaches' and 'Perestroika' - proved to be a watershed drama, the most lyrical and ambitious augury of an era since Tennessee Williams's 'The Glass Menagerie.' ~ John Lahr

Perestroika was an impossible idea on the face of it. The Party was setting out to employ its structures of command to make the country, and itself, less command-driven. A system whose main afflictions were stagnation and inflexibility was setting out to change itself. Worst and probably intractable was the fact that people who had spent their lives securing power and individual leverage were expected to devise change that would dismantle the hierarchy of levers and might dislodge them. The system resisted change instinctively... ~ Masha Gessen

We certainly hoped perestroika would win out and that there would be changes. We knew all along that socialism could flourish only with a certain amount of freedom and democracy. ~ Stefan Heym

A period of transition to a new quality in all spheres of society's life is accompanied by painful phenomena. When we were initiating perestroika we failed to properly assess and foresee everything. Our society turned out to be hard to move off the ground, not ready for major changes which affect people's vital interests and make them leave behind everything to which they had become accustomed over many years. In the beginning we imprudently generated great expectations, without taking into account the fact that it takes time for people to realize that all have to live and work differently, to stop expecting that new life would be given from above. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

Mr. Gorbachev initiated Glasnost, Perestroika, so he was already, you know, way disenchanted with the rigid Communist ideology, and he was looking to become an international leader. He was more accepted actually outside of the Communist Soviet Union than inside. ~ Deepak Chopra

If the Russian word " perestroika " has easily entered the international lexicon, this is due to more than just interest in what is going on in the Soviet Union. Now the whole world needs restructuring, i.e. progressive development, a fundamental change. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

The experience of opposing mass movements was acquired by the KGB during perestroika. It was then that the politicians decided to develop and nourish mass movements for their purposes. ~ Vladimir Bukovsky

Perestroika is nothing more than refined Stalinism. ~ Dan Quayle

I don't have many Russian friends. My childhood friends are dead - either from bad health, or they died in perestroika. ~ Leon Max

I have long ago made a final and irrevocable decision. Nothing and no one, no pressure, cither from the right or from the left, will make me abandon the positions of perestroika and new thinking. I do not intend to change my views or convictions. My choice is a final one. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

Perestroika is nothing but a spectacle organized from above. ~ Alexander Zinoviev

A popular anecdote described a dog praising perestroika, saying, "My chain is a little longer, the dish is further away, but I can now bark all I want. ~ Conor O'Clery

The opponents of perestroika had suffered a defeat, and then they organized the coup. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

Life is much richer and more complex than even the most perfect plans to make it better. It ultimately takes vengeance for attempts to impose abstract schemes, even with the best of intentions. Perestroika has made us understand this about our past, and the actual experience of recent years has taught us to reckon with the most general laws of civilization. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

I started like many young Russian people in the beginning of perestroika when it seemed that everything was possible. ~ Roustam Tariko

I paid too heavy a price for perestroika. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev