Richard Pipes in his research claims that Lenin's power became absolute only by the end of 1918, after he recovered from the assassination attempt on August 30, 1918; a rapid recovery after a seemingly fatal wound was superimposed on the traditional for Russia notions of the sacredness of the tsar. Vladimir Bonch–Bruevich, in the first edition of his memoirs, claimed that the sight of the wounded Lenin reminded him of "the removal from the cross of Christ, crucified by priests, bishops and the rich". The general opinion of the Bolshevik elites was expressed by Kamenev, who had repeatedly argued with Lenin earlier, who declared that "... the further, the more I am convinced that Ilyich is never wrong. In the end, he is always right ... How many times it seemed that he fell through – in the forecast or in the political course, and in the end, both his forecast and the course were always justified".