YEREVAN. – Armenia’s opposition Heritage Party Chairman Raffi Hovannisian reflected on The Civilitas Foundation founder, former FM, and Prosperous Armenia Party MP Vartan Oskanian’s Facebook message.

“Yes, Armenia today faces a dead end, with people ‘voting with their feet.’  But that has been the case ever since Vartan Oskanian became an official of the regime.  Nothing new here.

And so, [American philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo] Emerson, not only for Vartan but for all other public figures (including me):

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded,” Raffi Hovannisian wrote.

Photo by Sona Barseghyan