'We are few, but we are called Armenians
We do not put ourselves above anyone
Simply our fortune has just been so different
Simply we have just shed too much blood
Simply in our lives of centuries long
When we were many and when we were strong
Even then we did not oppress any nation
See, centuries have come and centuries have passed
Yet over no one have we become tyrants
If we have enslaved, only with our eyes
And if we have ruled, only with our books
If we have prevailed, only with our talents
And if we have ever oppressed,
it has only been with our wounds'
Paruyr Sevak

'I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread and water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a new Armenia.' William Saroyan