Olga quotes

[amartin71718]

I'm looking for any interesting quotes said by Olga. You can post either single quotes or exchanges between her and another person. They can be funny, serious, weird, whatever works. Thanks!

[AnastasiaNikolaevna]

I do know of one which is posted on www.livadia.org

"In St. Petersburg we work, but in Livadia, we live."

Sorry it's so short, I don't know any others. You might find some here, though: www.romanovsisters.webs.com

They have a lot of letters and quotes there.

[AnastasiaNikolaevna]

Alrighty then. I guess that never occured to me.

And another:


I am a Russian, and I will remain a Russian!"

[Tsarevich Alexei fan13]

Here is one .
"Remember that the evil which is now in the world will only get more powerful, and that it is not evil which conquers evil, but only love."

[Sarushka]

Here is one .
"Remember that the evil which is now in the world will only get more powerful, and that it is not evil which conquers evil, but only love."

Actually, it was Nicholas who said this. Olga copied out her father's quote in a letter she sent from Tobolsk.

[RealAnastasia]

At least we must say that if she copied it, it was for she must have been impressed by these words and shared her father's toughts. It's a little as if the quote was from Olga herself. (Even if we knows it isn't)

RealAnastasia.

[Romanov_History_Buff]

"Give my love to all who remember me." Well her love would go all over the world now wouldn't it since so many people remember her! 

[blessOTMA]

At least we must say that if she copied it, it was for she must have been impressed by these words and shared her father's toughts. It's a little as if the quote was from Olga herself. (Even if we knows it isn't)

RealAnastasia.

This is a good point and  though this is ot , it also applies to the poem found in Olga's handwriting in Tobolsk ..this one of a number of translations

Send us, Lord, the patience, in this year of stormy, gloom-filled days, to suffer popular oppression, and the tortures of our hangmen. Give us strength, oh Lord of justice, Our neighbor's evil to forgive, And the Cross so heavy and bloody, with Your humility to meet, In days when enemies rob us, To bear the shame and humiliation, Christ our Savior, help us. Ruler of the world, God of the universe, Bless us with prayer and give our humble soul rest in this unbearable, dreadful hour. At the threshold of the grave, breathe into the lips of Your slaves inhuman strength — to pray meekly for our enemies.

It's is said Countess Anastasia Vasilyevna Hendrikova actually wrote the poem  or that it is an old one. To me even if Olga Nicholaievna  did not  composed the poem, it still tells  us what was in her heart and mind at that  time. The poem plainly spoke to Olga then  , or she  would not have  carfully copied it out ...and imo the poem still speaks for her today .

[voyageroffreedom]

This poem reflect Olga religious upbringing. She was taught from an early age that God loves them,  she perhaps  learned to pray, as soon as she just started to babble. Her religious Orthodox experience have filled her with hope and faith and infinite love. She found comfort in religion in long captivity days, and at the end of the road she draw her strength and hope from her religious feelings.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

The version of the poem I have is a little bit different than the one blessOTMA posted, (well, quite a bit, even though it says the same thing.)

Give us Patience, Lord to us thy children,
In these dark stormy days to bear,
the persecution of our people,
the tortures falling to our shores.
Give us strength, just God to us who need it,
the persecutors to forgive,
our heavy painful cross to carry,
and thy great meekness to achieve.
When we are plundered and insulted,
in days of mutinous unrest,
we turn for help to thee, Christ Savior,
that we may stand the bitter test.
Lord of the world, God of Creation,
Give us thy blessing through our prayer,
give us peace of heart O master,
this hour of utmost dread to bear.
and on the threshhold of the grave,
breathe power divine into our clay,
that we, Thy  children, may find strength,
in meekness for our foes to pray.
My, what a powerful poem.    She really knew what was coming.

that really doesn't make sense that Olga might not have written it, it seems like it would have to have been a pretty big coincidence for her to have found a poem in a book that fitted their situation perfectly. now, that Countess Anastasia Henrivoka might have written it is a different story. But I like to go with the story that Olga wrote it. 

[blessOTMA]

The version of the poem I have is a little bit different than the one blessOTMA posted, (well, quite a bit, even though it says the same thing.)

Yes there a few versions....thanks for posting this one !

Give us Patience, Lord to us thy children,
In these dark stormy days to bear,
the persecution of our people,
the tortures falling to our shores.
Give us strength, just God to us who need it,
the persecutors to forgive,
our heavy painful cross to carry,
and thy great meekness to achieve.
When we are plundered and insulted,
in days of mutinous unrest,
we turn for help to thee, Christ Savior,
that we may stand the bitter test.
Lord of the world, God of Creation,
Give us thy blessing through our prayer,
give us peace of heart O master,
this hour of utmost dread to bear.
and on the threshold of the grave,
breathe power divine into our clay,
that we, Thy  children, may find strength,
in meekness for our foes to pray.


My, what a powerful poem.    She really knew what was coming.

that really doesn't make sense that Olga might not have written it, it seems like it would have to have been a pretty big coincidence for her to have found a poem in a book that fitted their situation perfectly.

Good point ...though it's a spot many find themselves in sadly, then and now

that Countess Anastasia Henrivoka might have written it is a different story. But I like to go with the story that Olga wrote it. 

We know for certain Olga wrote it out...to me that's a very great deal...and I believe Olga was more than capable of composing  it  since we have her poem to her mother to compare it too . The poem for her mother shows an amazing artistic sophistication imo . Also even if Countess Henrivoka did composed the poem,  I can't see poetry being written around her and Olga Nicholaievna not being involved! As Gleb Botkin states, she often helped him with his verses...took the matter quite seriously and was skilled at it .

What is key to me is this : it's in Olga's  handwriting and was found in one of her books. Coping out such a poem is no small matter. Plainly it spoke to her, and directly, ....so now we should let it speak to us about  her heart and mind at the time . Augments about whether she composed it or not are beside the point...imo and I sometimes think they are a way to avoid looking at what the poem says...because its naked in its emotion and so clear sighted in a terrible situation. It's painful for us to think of Olga seeing and feeling the situation so clearly. So we go on about its authorship. The poem's author and copyist, whether one in the same or not, is asking for the spiritual  strength to meet death and to even pray for the executioners . The poem does not  say " deliver us "...   it asks for  help  to meet this end as Thy servant and child .... It's astonishingly powerful  and reveals a spiritual development that is breathtaking.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

Does anybody know who the letter was to in which Olga quoted Nicholas?

Here is one .
"Remember that the evil which is now in the world will only get more powerful, and that it is not evil which conquers evil, but only love."

Actually, it was Nicholas who said this. Olga copied out her father's quote in a letter she sent from Tobolsk.

[Sarushka]

I've been looking for a few years now, and have never seen more of the letter than that one line.

[voyageroffreedom]

The only I know about this letter that it was written in Tobolsk, 1918. I have found in this website http://users.sisqtel.net/williams/tsar-martyrology.html the following:
FROM A LETTER OF GRAND DUCHESS OLGA
(the eldest daughter of Nicholas II):
"… Father asks to have it passed on to all who have remained loyal
to him and to those on whom they might have influence, that they
not avenge him; he has forgiven and prays for everyone; and not
to avenge themselves, but to remember that the evil which is now in
the world will become yet more powerful, and that it is not evil
which conquers evil, but love…"
Tobolsk, 1918
(From Letters of the Imperial Family
from Confinement, 1974.)

Unfortunately, they don’t mention to whom Olga wrote this letter. We can only guess, during her imprisonment she wrote to several people: her two aunts, grandmother, her friend Margarita Khitrovo, her tutor Petrov, Ania Vyrubova…perhaps one of these people Olga wrote those lines to.

[blessOTMA]

It really could have been to anyone as it's a statement of a board principle.....declaring the Tsar's  stance on this vast and important  issue. What Olga was responding to in order to writes these lines  would be interesting to know. Perhaps who she was writing to said something about revenge ( not all letters went though official channels.)..or was it a stand alone statement, something she said out of the blue to her correspondent? It could be either since it's so sweeping. But in any case, it contains great and hard won wisdom.