Televised speech (4 October 1993), as quoted in A Democracy of Despots (1995) by Donald Murray. p. 8
• Variant translations: You can make a throne of bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
• Variant translations: You can make a throne of bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
“
You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it.
— Boris Yeltsin
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it." in the context of "Televised speech (4 October 1993), as quoted in A Democracy of Despots (1995) by Donald Murray. p. 8
• Variant translations: You can make a throne of bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Boris Yeltsin" (Quotes, 1990s)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin Бори́с Никола́евич Е́льцин (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Russian and former Soviet politician who served as the first President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1990, he later stood as a political independent, during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism and Russian nationalism.
About Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin Бори́с Никола́евич Е́льцин (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Russian and former Soviet politician who served as the first President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1990, he later stood as a political independent, during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism and Russian nationalism.
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