Behind me there are already so many memories Lots of memories, but no point in remembering them, and ahead of me a long, long road with nothing to aim for I just don’t want to go along it.
IVAN TURGENEVBehind me there are already so many memories Lots of memories, but no point in remembering them, and ahead of me a long, long road with nothing to aim for I just don’t want to go along it.
IVAN TURGENEVWhat’s terrible is that there’s nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.
IVAN TURGENEVThat is what poetry can do. It speaks to us of what does not exist, which is not only better than what exists, but even more like the truth.
IVAN TURGENEVA son is like a lopped off branch. As a falcon he comes when he wills and goes where he lists.
IVAN TURGENEVYou may live a long while with some people and be on friendly terms with them and never speak openly with them from your soul.
IVAN TURGENEVHe was the soul of politeness to everyone — to some with a hint of aversion, to others with a hint of respect.
IVAN TURGENEVLove isn’t actually a feeling at all–it’s an illness, a certain condition of body and soul…. Usually it takes possession of someone without his permission, all of a sudden, against his will–just like cholera or a fever.
IVAN TURGENEVI’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 certainty that Tolstoy will find it bad, and vice versa.
IVAN TURGENEVNature cares nothing for logic, our human logic: she has her own, which we do not recognize and do not acknowledge until we are crushed under its wheel.
IVAN TURGENEVMost people can’t understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.
IVAN TURGENEVI share no man’s opinions; I have my own.
IVAN TURGENEVThere are some moments in life, some feelings; one can only point to them and pass by.
IVAN TURGENEVSignificance is sweet.
IVAN TURGENEVHowever much you knock at nature’s door, she will never answer you in comprehensible words.
IVAN TURGENEVA person who gets angry at his own illness is sure to overcome it.
IVAN TURGENEVThe temerity to believe in nothing.
IVAN TURGENEV