Live Not by Lies (a reading of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 1974 Essay)

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, in particular the Gulag system.

On the day Solzhenitsyn was arrested, February, 12, 1974, he released the text of “Live Not by Lies.”

The next day, he was exiled to the West, where he received a hero’s welcome. This moment marks the peak of his fame. Solzhenitsyn equates “lies” with ideology, the illusion that human nature and society can be reshaped to predetermined specifications. And his last word before leaving his homeland urges Soviet citizens as individuals to refrain from cooperating with the regime’s lies. Even the most timid can take this least demanding step toward spiritual independence. If many march together on this path of passive resistance, the whole inhuman system will totter and collapse.

-- by Edward E. Ericson, Jr. and Daniel J. Mahoney, The Solzhenitsyn Reader
https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/live-not-by-lies

There are several different English translations of this essay. The text from this reading can be found at
https://honestyculture.com/alexander-solzhenitsyn-live-not-by-lies/