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.

It is better to have dreamed a thousand dreams that never were than never to have dreamed at all.

With womankind, the less we love them, the easier they become to charm.

I’ve lived to bury my desires, And see my dreams corrode with rust; Now all that’s left are fruitless fires That burn my empty heart to dust.

Unrequited love is not an affront to man but raises him.

I was not born to amuse the Tsars.

Thank you, darling, for learning to play chess. It is an absolute necessity for any well organized family. (in a letter to his wife)