“… no matter what we say or think, the inevitable is
happening—science and technology are developing,
humankind is advancing. What are the results? Our
most important job is to ensure that this process goes
in the right direction, that it really promotes progress
and happiness.”
Meeting Above the Planet Earth. 1975
“We are all on the same planet… If a people or even
one person is in trouble, no one should be indifferent…”
Tearing Down the Smokescreen of Biases. 1982
The Time to Speak Out by Chinghiz Aitmatov ( born
1928), Kirghiz writer, winner of the Lenin and State
prizes, member of the European Academy of Science,
Art and Literature, provides information about the
author’s life, presents portraits of a number of cultural
figures (classical and contemporary) and examines
what people in culture and the arts can do to prevent
a nuclear holocaust.

Translated from the Russian by Paula Garb
Designed by Alexander Alexeyev
Compiled by Galina Dzyubenko

All credits to the original uploader/ This is a cleaned/optimised scan.

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I. ABOUT THE TIMES AND MYSELF

Page
A Responsibility to the Future ……………………………………….. 9
Notes About Myself …………………………………………………………. 20
Snow on Manas Mountain ……………………………………………… 30
Laud Friendship and Humaneness …………………………………. 48
Much Depends on You ………………………………………………….. 51
A Point of Contact ………………………………………………………… 54
Man and the World, The Seventies ………………………………. 78
The Time to Speak Out ……………………………………………….. 107
A Joy to Live on Earth ……………………………………………….. 123
The Price Is Life ……………………………………………………………. 130
To Be an Echo of the World …………………………………………. 144
I Believe in Man ……………………………………………………………. 153

II. I BOW MY HEAD. ABOUT SOVIET AND WORLD CULTURAL FIGURES

Guide of Conscience …………………………………………………….. 165
Our Gorky …………………………………………………………………….. 170
He Knew a Million Lines of the Manas Tale ………………… 175
Relentless Realism ………………………………………………………. 179
I Bow My Head …………………………………………………………… 182
A Word About Pushkin ………………………………………………. 184
Byelorussian Brother …………………………………………………. 187
Portrait of an Artist ……………………………………………………. 189
His Field Is Enormous ……………………………………………….. 197
The Cranes Are Flying …………………………………………………. 201
The Land and Bird of Inspiration ……………………………. 205

III. THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE

Winds Washing the Land …………………………………………… 213
There Is No Alternative to the Spirit of Helsinki ………. 219
Meeting Above the Planet Earth ……………………………… 225
Not Coexisting Means Not Existing …………………………. 231
Tearing Down the Smokescreen of Biases ……………….. 239
Reaching the Hearts of People ………………………………. 249
The Epos of Victory …………………………………………………… 257
Reason Under Nuclear Siege ……………………………………. 263
Kneeling to Weep, Arise in Anger! ………………………….. 270
We Said What We Thought ……………………………………….. 276
Statement of the Issyk-Kul Forum …………………………… 279
Notes …………………………………………………………………………… 295