It's even pleasant to be sick when you know that there are people who await your recovery as they might await a holiday.

He had two lives: one, open, seen and known by all who cared to know, full of relative truth and of relative falsehood, exactly like the lives of his friends and acquaintances; and another life running its course in secret. And through some strange, perhaps accidental, conjunction of circumstances, everything that was essential, of interest and of value to him, everything in which he was sincere and did not deceive himself, everything that made the kernel of his life, was hidden from other people.

Country acquaintances are charming only in the country and only in the summer. In the city in winter they lose half of their appeal.

What's the use of talking? You can see for yourself that this is a barbarous country; the people have no morals; and the boredom!

It's very hard, feeling that you're no more than a piece of unwanted furniture in this world.

Common hypocrites pass themselves off as doves; political and literary hypocrites pose as eagles. But don't be fooled by their eagle-like appearance. These are not eagles, but rats or dogs.

A man wants nothing so badly as a gooseberry farm.