If we are so smart, why are we so poor?

Igor Bestuzhev-Lada:

The rumors about the Russian intellect have been greatly exaggerated. He has a peculiar sort of intellect. On the verge of poverty, hungry, and in rags, he can ruminate for hours on the disastrous state of black America. He comes up with ingenious ideas, but as a rule, they are realized only in other countries and then are exported back to Russia. The Russian intellect is without equal when it comes to discussing the problems of the universe or the mysteries of the soul and not simply the Russian soul. However, where the discussion involves consistency, order, commitment we come in last behind nearly al others.

1. We're so poor, precisely because we think we're so smart.We'vecreated our own laziness through the idea of pride. We're proud of some sort of personal uniqueness. We forget, however, that just be­cause a person is unique doesn't mean he is better. Only in our country can one hear the phrase "bolno umniy" (lit: sickly smart). Those who love to talk about the special path Russia has followed should remem­ber Ivan Susanin. It is not impossible that this is our special path...

2. We don't need to confuse culture with civilization. The level of culture is Chaikovsky, Tolstoy, Rachmaninov and the level of civilization is the smell in the bathroom. Pride in the fact that we belong to the na­tion that produced Leo Tolstoy should not keep us from dealing with the smell in the bathroom.

(Цит по Бурак А.Л. Введение в практику письменного перевода

с русского языка на английский. – М., 2002.)

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