Impressions Of Russia: The Russian Character
This is the fourth and last in my series of vignettes based upon my recent visit to Russia.
The great Winston Churchill once said the following:
In England, everything is permitted, except what is prohibited.
In Germany, everything is prohibited, except what is permitted.
In France, everything is allowed, even what is prohibited.
In Russia, everything is prohibited, even what is allowed.
(Thanks for the quote MEO).
These statements are, of course, witty and broad generalizations, but there is a kernel of truth in each one. And the underlying veracity of these observations contributes greatly to the different “feel” one has when visiting each of these very different countries.
If one makes a request (any request), for example, to an native Italian, their immediate response is ALWAYS to say “yes”. AFTER saying yes, they then try like crazy to figure out how to deliver what they’ve just agreed to. If one makes a similar request to a French man or French woman, their immediate response is ALWAYS “maybe”, at which point they then calmly consider the matter in a detached fashion. Having promised nothing, they can look at the situation with little consternation. If one make a request to a Russian, however, they ALWAYS respond with an immediate “no”. But, THEN, they consider long and hard how they might be able to reverse their initial answer and honor your request.
During my recent visit to Russia, I met many wonderful people. And, as you might expect for such a large and diverse country, I encountered every personality type imaginable. If I were asked to generalize, however, and give a broad description of the Russian “personality”, I would not say that, as a rule, they were “warm”, in the way you might say that of the Italians or Spanish. I wouldn’t, however, say that they were “cold” either. The most accurate descriptor I can think of might be that they were “cordial”. And cordial is, of course, all the traveler should rightly expect in the brief encounters that travel allows.
I did find, on many occasions, however, that Russians do have a good sense of humor. One example I’ll mention took place as our tour group was approaching the entrance to a monastery. As we got close, our guide told us that whenever one passes through a certain gate into the monastery, one of that person’s sins are forgiven. Hearing this, I immediately asked wether I could go BACK AND FORTH….She laughed and then thought about that for a moment and said: “Don’t tell my husband, but I go through here EVERY DAY!”
I did get the distinct impression that Russians are, by nature, industrious. When we visited the Cathedral Of Christ The Savior (with a tower 338 feet tall, it is the tallest Orthodox Christian Cathedral in the world) in Moscow, we were surprised to learn that we were actually looking at a replica of the original church which had been destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1931 to make way for the Soviet version of the Empire State Building. The planned skyscraper was supposed to be the “flagship” for the wonders of communism. These plans were tabled, however, when Germany invaded Russia in 1931 and the “flagship” was never built. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, consideration was given to REBUILDING the great Cathedral. The permission to rebuild was finally given in 1995 and an exact replica of the original church (which had taken 40 years to build) was completed in an astonishing FIVE YEARS. This type of endogenous industriousness can be seen in very ambitious projects of the past as well as the present (the Gasprom Tower in Saint Petersburg is one of many dramatic examples). And, it may be that this inherent drive toward enterprise is one of the main reasons that communism (which, regrettably, provided meager rewards for the industrious and entrepreneurial) was a poor “fit” for this energetic country.
It is also quite apparent how important religion is to the Russian people. The many cathedrals and even monasteries (quite a few of which were still in operation) that we visited spoke volumes of the devotional aspect of the Russian personality. The amazingly ornate embellishments, paintings, mosaics and statuary together with the fact that the cathedrals had no pews or even seats (everyone, including Tsars and Tsaresses, was (and is) required to stand for the entire liturgy which can run for two to three hours) attest to the degree of importance that faith had (and has) in their lives. This devotional trait explains why state mandated atheism of the communist era, also, was never a good “fit” for this very religious people.
Lastly, it was very clear that Russian society is highly cultured. Museums, art galleries, classical and contemporary music venues, literature, and, of course, the ballet, were everywhere. Even small towns had art curricula in the schools and had music venues available to the public. Artistic hopefuls enter into rigorous study early in life, and pursue their vocations with obsessive determination.
Just think how much more such a cultured, proud and energetic people might have accomplished had they been spared the ravages of a half dozen wars and 74 years of Bolshevik rule.