He was the soul of politeness to everyone -- to some with a hint of aversion, to others with a hint of respect..

The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?.

I look up to heaven only when I want to sneeze..

A son is like a lopped off branch. As a falcon he comes when he wills and goes where he lists..

Every man's happiness is built on the unhappi-ness of another..

Looking about me, listening and recalling what the day had been like, I suddenly felt a secret unease in my heart and raised my eyes to the sky, but ….

Even nightingales can’t be fed on fairy tales..

No matter how often you knock at nature's door, she won't answer in words you can understand--for Nature is dumb. She'll vibrate and moan like a viol….

One may speak about anything on earth with fire, with enthusiasm, with ecstasy, but one only speaks about oneself with avidity..

Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man's the workman in it..

I'm through with Tolstoy. He has ceased to exist for me.... If I eat a bowl of soup and like it, I know by that fact alone and with absolute certaint….

Everyone needs help from everyone else..

Time, as is well known, sometimes flies like a bird and sometimes crawls like a worm, but human beings are generally particularly happy when they don….

Oh youth, youth! You don't worry about anything; you seem to possess all the treasures of the universe--even sorrow gives you pleasure, even grief su….

In the end, nature is inexorable: it has no reason to hurry and, sooner or later, it takes what belongs to it. Unconsciously and inflexibly obedient ….

However passionate, sinning, and rebellious the heart hidden in the tomb, the flowers growing over it peep serenely at us with their innocent eyes; t….

Anyone who has crossed from the district of Bolkhov into that of Zhizdra will probably have been struck by the sharp difference between the natives o….

He went to bed early, but could not fall asleep. He was haunted by sad and gloomy reflections about the inevitable end- death. These thoughts were fa….

What's important is that twice two is four and all the rest's nonsense..

That's what children are for—that their parents may not be bored..

Belonging to oneself--the whole essence of life lies in that..