Thank you, darling, for learning to play chess. It is an absolute necessity for any well organized family. (in a letter to his wife)
Alexander PushkinRead
I do not like Moscow life. You live here not as you want to live, but as old women want you to.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a dissatisfaction with societal constraints that dictate how one should live.
In this quote, Alexander Pushkin critiques the conformist nature of life in Moscow, suggesting that the desires and expectations of traditional values imposed by older generations inhibit individual freedom and personal expression. It reflects a broader sentiment about how societal norms can restrict one's authentic way of living, prompting a reflection on the tension between personal desires and external pressures.
In practice
In a discussion about societal expectations, one may quote this to highlight the importance of individual freedom.
Thank you, darling, for learning to play chess. It is an absolute necessity for any well organized family. (in a letter to his wife)
I loved you; even now I may confess, Some embers of my love their fire retain; But do not let it cause you more distress, I do not want to sadden you again. Hopeless and tongue tied, yet I loved you dearly With pangs the jealous and the timid know; So tenderly I loved you, so sincerely, I pray God grant another love you so.
I loved you: and, it may be, from my soul The former love has never gone away, But let it not recall to you my dole; I wish not sadden you in any way. I loved you silently, without hope, fully, In diffidence, in jealousy, in pain; I loved you so tenderly and truly, As let you else be loved by any man.
I have outlasted all desire, My dreams and I have grown apart; My grief alone is left entire, The gleamings of an empty heart. The storms of ruthless dispensation Have struck my flowery garland numb, I live in lonely desolation And wonder when my end will come. Thus on a naked tree-limb, blasted By tardy winter's whistling chill, A single leaf which has outlasted Its season will be trembling still.
My dreams, my dreams! What has become of their sweetness? What indeed has become of my youth?
Thus people--so it seems to me-- Become good friends from sheer ennui.
There comes a time in every man's life when he's consumed by the desire to spit on his palms, hoist the black flag and start cutting throats.
One of the great dangers on the spiritual path is that the ego becomes spiritualized. The ego loves to think of itself as spiritually evolved. It is just another way that it manages to feel important and in control. It is very difficult to free yourself from an enlightened ego.
She just happened to feel like it. Wasnβt that after all, the only reason there was? Had she ever had a less selfish, more complicated reason for doing anything in her life?
Men live by intervals of reason under the sovereignty of humor and passion.
The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind.
It is a very good world to live in, To lend or to spend, or to live in; but to beg or to borrow, or to get a man's own, It is the very worst world that ever was known.
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