"No single man makes history. History cannot be seen, just as one cannot see grass growing. Wars and revolutions, kings and Robespierres, are history's organic agents, its yeast. But revolutions are made by fanatical men of action with one-track mind, geniuses in their ability to confine themselves to a limited field. They overturn the old order in a few hours or days, the whole upheaval takes a few weeks or at most years, but the fanatical spirit that inspired the upheavals is worshiped for decades thereafter, for centuries."

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Source: The New York Times, January 1, 1978.

About the author

Boris Pasternak

Poet, Novelist

Boris Pasternak was a Russian poet and novelist, best known for his novel Doctor Zhivago, which explores themes of love and freedom against a backdrop of revolution.

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