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Quotes by Uzeyir Hajibeyov
On the Nature of Man
Courtesy: Hajibeyov Home Museum, Baku. Director Saadat Garabaghli.

 

Native Language
"Once they told us that you should forget your native language and speak only Russian. Now they tell us that they are going to change our ABC books and prepare an alphabet based on Russian letters (Cyrillic) for us. And it's not just this! I'm afraid that next time they'll come and tell us that we should eat centipede soup instead of egg-plant dolma. How will it be then?!"

Hero
"If dying is dying, it's better to die a hero than to live as a slave."

Unwarranted Intrusion
"When is a person like a guest in his own house?
When the police search his house."

Be Foxy
"Whoever is an old fox in this life is happy. You can get all the difficult things by being an old fox in this life. For instance, let's say that if you don't call yourself a nationalist today, you won't be able to earn money. Well, what does it matter, become a fox and say that you are nationalist! Then you'll have to be a socialist! Again, become an old fox and say that you're socialist! Or when you're in a place where you have to take Russians' side, become an old fox and tell them you'd do anything for them. And if anybody asks you why you have so many faces, become an old fox and ask him not to expose it."

Self Reliance
"Everybody in this life has some way to protect himself. By this means he defeats his enemies. The protection of true writers is the pen; The protection of imposter writers is curse words; The protection of the rich is money. A pen can disgrace a person; curse words can cause trouble; and money can send him to Siberia..."

The Blind
"Who is unlucky, is it the blind person or the person who has eyes? Of course, the blind person. The rich are blind, the poor have eyes. Money makes the rich blind. The rich need the poor just as the blind need people who have eyes. If people who have eyes want they can throw the blind into a well. And if the poor wants, they can throw the rich into a well of misfortune..."

Snobs
"Everybody hates snobs, but everybody always makes way for them?!"

Culture
"Culture is like a river torrent that can't help but keep flowing. It will flow and sweep away everything in its path. Now, if you don't want to be the victim of this culture, you have to be armed with that culture."

"A gardener who wants to have a beautiful garden looks for tree from a good species. In the same way, a person who wants his nation to develop should look for good and capable people. Like a gardener who takes care of those trees after he finds them, he should also take care of those people after he finds them."

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