A well-known screenwriter, prose writer and poet — about life choices and a good name.
“A well-known name is a chance, a combination of circumstances. Plus — purposeful work to create a name. We live in an era where, thanks to the media, anyone can make a name. But if it is made in the void, then there is an accident of a bird that «jumps from person to person» in it. A good name is quite another matter. It involves the test of time. Unwillingness to compromise, certain abilities and «not vacillating with the party line»… I don’t know what kind of reputation I have. But I remember that this bird can easily flutter off my shoulder (if it is sitting there) and fly to another branch. I’m more of a fatalist and non-choice advocate. More precisely, the more correctly you live, the fewer situations in which you risk losing your name. Live right, and there will be no choice at all. Choice is always incomplete and untrue. By «right living» I mean paying attention and listening to one’s own path. It is in him — destiny and God. But if something embarrassing happens, always say no. This is a whole science, which I still have not fully mastered. I still sit at school “no” in the first grade in the back of the classroom. But still I am learning and I console myself with this. ”
* Andrei Voznesensky (1933–2010), poet; the phrase is taken from his poem «Falcon-year-old Vasily …», dedicated to Vasily Aksenov; this poem is given in the book by A. Kabakov and E. Popov «Aksenov» (AST, 2011).