‘Chernobyl’ is an HBO series based on the Chernobyl accident which took place on 26 April 1986.

The director of the series is Johan Rench, producer Sanne Wohlenberg and the editor, Simon Smith. The main characters in the series include Valey Legasov played by Jarred Davis, Ulana Khomyo played by Emily Watson and Boris Scherbiner played by Stellar Skarsgard.

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that took place in Soviet Ukraine and caused immense death and destruction in the city. There was a series of safety tests conducted which went wrong. The team then had to solve the problem and save Europe from the toxic and harmful chemicals reaching the water bodies nearby. 750,000 people were sent to clean up the plant. On 26 April 1986, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl’s reactor number four-station, the fire that raged on was fought by staff and firefighters over the following ten days. The decision-makers made a decision to freeze the earth beneath the reactor which would stabilize the foundations. Ten years later many improvements in radiation protection and emergency preparedness have been made possible through the experience. The series made was based on the same incident and was an instant hit among the audience. The series won two Golden Globes including Best Limited Series and Actor in a supporting role. The series also won ten Emmy’s for outstanding limited series, writing, and directing.

Quotes About Chernobyl

Did you know, in order to adapt the story to television, the director Craig Mazin invented a character and had to make some changes to the chronology events for the series? Here are some quotes for you to read about the Chernobyl incident as described in the series.

Chernobyl caused major destruction and chaos here is its aftermath.

1.”The truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants- it doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions- to lie in wait for all time. This, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

2.”What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we’ll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

3.”There was nothing sane about Chernobyl. What happened there, what happened after, even the good we did, all of it…all of it, madness.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

4.”If we don’t find out how this happened, it will happen again.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

5.”You’ll do it because it must be done. You’ll do it because nobody else can. And if you don’t, millions will die. If you tell me that’s not enough, I won’t believe you.”

-Boris Schcherbina, ‘Chernobyl’

6.”Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask, what is the cost of lies?”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

7.”You think the right question will get you the truth? There is no truth.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

8.” Well all victories come at a cost.”

-Mikhail Gorbachev,’ Chernobyl’

9.”It means the core is open. It means the fire we’re watching with our own eyes is giving nearly twice the radiation released by the bomb in Hiroshima. And that’s every single hour. Hour after hour, 20 hours since the explosion, so 40 bombs worth by now. Forty-eight more tomorrow. And it will not stop. Not in a week, not in a month. It will burn and spread its poison until the entire continent is dead!”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

10.”Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen.”

-Charkov,’ Chernobyl’

11.”You know the old Russian proverb: ‘Trust But Verify’. And the Americans think that Ronald Reagan thought that up.”

– ‘ Chernobyl’

12.”You scientists, when there’s a disease you’re in a lab somewhere, with your nose buried in a book. But when there’s not a disease, you’re out in public, causing a panic.”

– ‘ Chernobyl’

13.”We live in a world where children have to die to save their mothers…someone has to start telling the truth.”

– ‘ Chernobyl’

14.”This is what has always set people apart. A thousand years of sacrifice in our veins. And every generation must know its own suffering.”

-Boris Schcherbina, ‘Chernobyl’

‘Chernobyl’ HBO Quotes

While we are still in the dark about many of the circumstances, we now know that incident was far more catastrophic than Soviet officials initially let on. Here are some quotes from the ‘Chernobyl’ series which was aired on HBO.

The Chernobyl incident and disaster took place in Ukraine and caused mass destruction and loss.

15.”My advice: Tell the truth.”

-Boris Schcherbina, ‘Chernobyl’

16.”All victories inevitably come at a cost.”

-Mikhail Gorbachev, ‘Chernobyl’

17.”Our power comes from the perception our power.”

-Mikhail Gorbachev, ‘Chernobyl’

18.”To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

19.”Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

20.”When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there but it is still there.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

21.”In a just world, I’d be shot for my lies, but not for this, not for the truth.”

-Valery Legasov, ‘Chernobyl’

22.”When it’s your life and the lives of everyone you love, your moral conviction doesn’t mean anything.”

-‘Chernobyl’

23.”These men work in the dark they see everything.”

-Boris Schcherbina, ‘Chernobyl’

24.”The science is strong but a test is only as good as the men carrying it out.”

-Boris Schcherbina, ‘Chernobyl’

25.”You put a bullet in someone, you are not you anymore. You will never be you again. But then you wake up the next morning and you are still you. And you realize, that was you all along.”

– ‘Chernobyl’

Quotes From Chernobyl

1. “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.”

2. “The truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants – it doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions – to lie in wait for all time. This at last is the gift of Chernobyl.”

3. “When it’s your life and the lives of everyone you love, your moral conviction doesn’t mean anything.”

4. “All victories inevitably come at a cost.”

5. “When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. ”

6. “You’ll do it because it must be done. You’ll do it because nobody else can. And if you don’t, millions will die. If you tell me that’s not enough, I won’t believe you.”

7. “To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not.”

8. “If we don’t find out how this happened, it will happen again. ”

9. “Have you ever spent time with miners?” “No.”
“My advice: tell the truth. These men work in the dark. They see everything. ”

10. “You put a bullet in someone, you are not you anymore. You will never be you again. But then you wake up the next morning and you are still you. And you realise, that was you all along.”

11. “What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we’ll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”

12. “Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen?” “Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen? Oh, that’s perfect. They should put that on our money.”