Even so, one step from my grave, I believe that cruelty, spite, The powers of darkness will in time, Be crushed by the spirit of light.
Boris PasternakRead
They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the conflicting nature of societal expectations regarding love and hate.
Boris Pasternak's quote highlights the paradoxical demands often placed upon individuals by society, urging them to reject their genuine affections and embrace what they typically detest. This struggle between personal feelings and external pressures can lead to inner turmoil, as people grapple with the expectations of fitting into societal norms instead of remaining true to themselves.
Themes
SocietyConflictLoveHateExpectations
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be relevant in a discussion on societal pressures during a philosophy class.
More from Boris Pasternak
All quotes βHe is her glory. Any woman could say it. For every one of them, God is in her child. Mothers of great men must have been familiar with this feeling, but then, all women are mothers of great men -- it isn't their fault if life disappoints them later.
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Our evenings are farewells. Our parties are testaments. So that the secret stream of suffering. May warm the cold of life.
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The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
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Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
Boris PasternakRead
They loved each other, not driven by necessity, by the "blaze of passion" often falsely ascribed to love. They loved each other because everything around them willed it, the trees and the clouds and the sky over their heads and the earth under their feet.
Boris PasternakRead
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