How I will end, when I have sung my fill,
I cannot say, nor will I even try.
There is one thing, though, that I know full well:
I want to live - and I will hate to die.
I'll twist my neck out of the silver collar Or I'll bite through the gold-encrusted chain, I'll clear the fence, fall on a thorn and holler, Rip up my sides, and fly through wind and rain!
Vladimir Vysotsky
"I believe Vysotsky'sfate to be perfect, complete and happy, for it is impossible to make any revisions in it. He was undoubtedly guarded by a star of his own, and he faced it with a clear conscience."
Bella Akhmadulina
"He was the flower of our land, of our people and times. He was a flower that might not have looked exquisite but had stunning fragrance. He stuck like a thistle in the hearts of the people who were so much in need of literature, minstrels, actors, poets."
Mikhail Ulyanov