5 Quotes & Sayings By Oliver Bullough

Oliver Bullough is a British novelist and biographer. He was born in London and educated at the University of London and Cambridge University, where he took a BA and MA degree in English Literature and History. He was a schoolmaster before becoming a full-time writer. His first novel, The Bitter Glass, was published by Jonathan Cape in 1997 Read more

A further novel, Knowing the World, followed in 2002, as did an account of his experiences as a schoolmaster, The Good Schoolmaster. His most recent novel is Mr Pym, described as ‘a moving and deeply moving story of English history at the end of the twentieth century…'

1
He realized that trust between people is what makes us happy. Any totalitarian state is based on betrayal. It needs people to inform on each other, to avoid socializing to interact only through the state and to avoid unsanctioned meetings. Oliver Bullough
2
Prosperity and democracy does seem to be a good way to wean a population off massive alcohol abuse. Oliver Bullough
3
In this way, the Church was a true reflection of the whole of Russian society. The KGB and the Russian people had penetrated each other to such an extent that they could not be separated. The culture of betrayal and suspicion and distrust that the KGB relied on had become part of the national culture, poisoning politics in the 1990s and beyond: decades of corruption, murder and sordid sex scandals. If it cannot purge itself, however, the Russian nation will never rid itself of the illness that has driven people to alcohol. Russians need to trust each other again. Oliver Bullough
4
The Soviet state was, in fact, almost perfectly designed to make people unhappy. It denied its citizens not just hope, but also trust. Every activity had to be sanctioned by the state. Any person could be an informant. No action could be guaranteed to be without consequence. Father Dmitry preached friendship and warmth and belief to his parishioners, and inspired a generation to live as humans and not as parts of a machine. Oliver Bullough