The Property of The World

"Empty nation made its contribution to the treasure-trove of world culture. Leonardo da Vinei and Dante, Balzac and Corot, Cervantes and Goya, Shakespeare and Dickens, Beethoven and Goethe are linked with the lands which gave them birth, but they have enlarged and enriched the minds of all mankind. How impoverished European culture would be if from it were severed the Russian novel, which revolutionized the conscience of the world, Russian musicians, the work of Russian scientists, and, lastly, that discovery of a new world which was made in 1917 by the Russian people. People often argue about whom a particular invention belongs to—it has happened time and time again, that scientists in different countries have worked simultaneously on one and the same problem, but It is unlikely that anyone will venture to contest Russia's priority in the building of socialism.

"He who treasures universal culture will treasure the national features, the specific genius of each and every people. There is the profound realistic satire of Cervantes, there is the biting irony of Swift, there is the merry wit of Moliere and there is the laughter through tears of Gogol. Certain American doctrinaires love to extol the 'American way of life.' Well if they are satisfied with drug stores, gangster films, divine service advertisements and the Un-American Activities Committee, that is their affair. This is not the trouble; the trouble is that the dollar has gone to their heads, they seriously believe that a Broadway picture palace is a more splendid thing than' the Parthenon, and that the 'Readers' Digest' is superior to Leo Tolstoy. They want to put one face on the whole, world, to Implant their standards everywhere. To them, the peoples of Europe are so many recruits, whose heads have to be promptly shaved and who have to be put into uniform.

"There is nothing more loathsome than racial or national arrogance. World culture has its blood vessels, which cannot be cut with impunity. Peoples have learned, and will continue to learn, from one another. I think one can respect national peculiarities, yet discountenance national excluslveness. The real patriot loves humanity, and the real internationalist is devoted to his people."