We Russians have assigned ourselves no other task in life but the cultivation of our own personalities, and when we’re barely past childhood, we set to work to cultivate them, those unfortunate personalities.

IVAN TURGENEV

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We Russians have assigned ourselves no other task in life but the cultivation of our own personalities, and when we’re barely past childhood, we set to work to cultivate them, those unfortunate personalities.

Ivan Turgenev

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Cultivation

People without firmness of character love to make up a fate for themselves; that relieves them of the necessity of having their own will and of taking responsibility for themselves.

IVAN TURGENEV

People without firmness of character love to make up a fate for themselves; that relieves them of the necessity of having their own will and of taking responsibility for themselves.
IVAN TURGENEV

Responsibility Willing
Nothing is worse and more hurtful than a happiness that comes too late.

IVAN TURGENEV

Nothing is worse and more hurtful than a happiness that comes too late.
IVAN TURGENEV
I share no man’s opinions; I have my own.

IVAN TURGENEV

I share no man’s opinions; I have my own.
IVAN TURGENEV
Go forward while you can, but if your strength fails you, sit down near the road and gaze without anger or envy at those who pass by. They don’t have far to go, either.
IVAN TURGENEV

Jealous
So long as one’s just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon as one starts doing it one gets worn out and tired.

IVAN TURGENEV

So long as one’s just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon as one starts doing it one gets worn out and tired.
IVAN TURGENEV

Oneself Soar
That 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 TURGENEV

That 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 TURGENEV
I walked in the meadows of green grieving for my life.

IVAN TURGENEV

I walked in the meadows of green grieving for my life.
IVAN TURGENEV

Grieve Meadow
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’t notice whether it’s passing quickly or slowly.

IVAN TURGENEV

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’t notice whether it’s passing quickly or slowly.
IVAN TURGENEV

Known Pass
What did I hope for, what did I expect, what rich future did I foresee, when the phantom of my first love, rising up for an instant, barely called forth one sigh, one mournful sentiment?

IVAN TURGENEV

What did I hope for, what did I expect, what rich future did I foresee, when the phantom of my first love, rising up for an instant, barely called forth one sigh, one mournful sentiment?
IVAN TURGENEV

Instant Mourn Oneself Rise
It’s all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.
IVAN TURGENEV

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

IVAN TURGENEV

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

Feed
Take what you can yourself, and don’t let others get you into their hands; to belong to oneself, that is the whole thing in life.

IVAN TURGENEV

Take what you can yourself, and don’t let others get you into their hands; to belong to oneself, that is the whole thing in life.
IVAN TURGENEV

Independent
Significance is sweet.

IVAN TURGENEV

Significance is sweet.
IVAN TURGENEV

Sweet
I was as happy as a fish in water, and I could have stayed in that room for ever, have never left that place.

IVAN TURGENEV

I was as happy as a fish in water, and I could have stayed in that room for ever, have never left that place.
IVAN TURGENEV
There are some moments in life, some feelings; one can only point to them and pass by.

IVAN TURGENEV

There are some moments in life, some feelings; one can only point to them and pass by.
IVAN TURGENEV

Pass Point
We sit in the mud and reach for the stars.

IVAN TURGENEV

We sit in the mud and reach for the stars.
IVAN TURGENEV

We Russians have assigned ourselves no other task in life but the cultivation of our own personalities, and when we’re barely past childhood, we set to work to cultivate them, those unfortunate personalities.

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