Every man's happiness is built on the unhappi-ness of another.

Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.

If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.

A son is like a lopped off branch. As a falcon he comes when he wills and goes where he lists.

What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.

Anyone who has crossed from the district of Bolkhov into that of Zhizdra will probably have been struck by the sharp difference between the natives of the provinces of Orel and Kaluga.

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?