O vanity! you are the lever by means of which Archimedes wished to lift the earth! Mikhail Lermontov More Quotes by Mikhail Lermontov More Quotes From Mikhail Lermontov I was ready to love the whole world, but no one understood me, and I learned to hate. Mikhail Lermontov ready-for-love hate world He in his madness prays for storms, and dreams that storms will bring him peace. Mikhail Lermontov storm madness dream I have a congenital desire to contradict; my whole life is merely a chain of sad and unsuccessful contradictions to heart and mind. When faced with enthusiasm, I am seized by a midwinter freeze, and I suppose that frequent dealings with sluggish phlegmatics would have made a passionate dreamer. Mikhail Lermontov dreamer mind heart Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea. Mikhail Lermontov ocean sea beach Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there. Mikhail Lermontov decision feelings heart Women love only those whom they do not know! Mikhail Lermontov knows An unusual beginning must have an unusual end. Mikhail Lermontov unusual ends We almost always forgive those we understand. Mikhail Lermontov forgiving I was modest--they accused me of being crafty: I became secretive. I felt deeply good and evil--nobody caressed me, everybody offended me: I became rancorous. I was gloomy--other children were merry and talkative. I felt myself superior to them--but was considered inferior: I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world--none understood me: and I learned to hate. Mikhail Lermontov hate evil children Love, like fire, goes out without fuel. Mikhail Lermontov fuel fire In the first place, [his eyes] never laughed when he laughed. Have you ever noticed this peculiarity some people have? It is either the sign of an evil nature or of a profound and lasting sorrow. Mikhail Lermontov eye evil profound What is this eternity to me without you? Mikhail Lermontov divinity temples infinity I love enemies, though not in the Christian way. They amuse me, excite my blood. Being always on one’s guard, catching every glance, the significance of every word, guessing at intentions, frustrating their plots, pretending to be tricked, and suddenly, with a shove, upturning the whole enormous and arduously built edifice of their cunning and schemes—that’s what I call life. Mikhail Lermontov christian blood enemy I was born, so that the whole world could be a spectatorOf my triumph or my doom. Mikhail Lermontov triumph born world Happiness comes the way the wind blows. Mikhail Lermontov blow wind way And I, as I lived, in an alien landWill die a slave and an orphan. Mikhail Lermontov orphan slave aliens Anyone who has chanced like me to roam through desolate mountains and studied at length their fantastic shapes and drunk the invigorating air of their valleys can understand why I wish to describe and depict these magic scenes for others. Mikhail Lermontov drunk magic air If only people thought a little more about it, they would see that life is not worrying about so much. Mikhail Lermontov worry littles people Evil spawns evil. The first experience of torture gives an understanding of the pleasure in tormenting others. Mikhail Lermontov understanding evil giving You men do not understand the delights of a glance, of a pressure of the hand... but as for me, I swear to you that, when I listen to your voice, I feel such a deep, strange bliss that the most passionate kisses could not take its place. Mikhail Lermontov kissing men hands
