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So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov

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Topic

Human needs Worship

Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Source

The Brothers Karamazov

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1879 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. "Братья Карамазовы [The Brothers Karamazov]." The Russian Messenger, Jan. 1879 - Nov. 1880. Serial.

Current Citation

Dostoevsky, Feodor. The Brothers Karamazov, translated by David McDuff. Penguin Classics, 2003.

Beauty will save the world.

Adelaida

Quoted in The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Topic

Beauty Salvation

Speaker

Adelaida

Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Source

The Idiot

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1869 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. "Идиот [The Idiot]." The Russian Messenger, 1868–69.

Current Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Idiot, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkhonsky. Vintage, 2003, pt. 1, ch. 6.

Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov

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Topic

Beauty

Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Source

The Brothers Karamazov

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1880 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. "Братья Карамазовы [The Brothers Karamazov]." The Russian Messenger, Jan. 1879 - Nov. 1880. Serial.

Current Citation

Dostoevsky, Feodor. The Brothers Karamazov, translated by David McDuff. Penguin Classics, 2003.

The subject of history is the life of peoples and of humanity. To catch and pin down in words-that is, to describe directly the life, not only of humanity, but even of a single people, appears to be impossible.

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

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Topic

History

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

War and Peace

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1869 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Война и миръ [War and Peace]." The Russian Messenger, 1865-1867. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Everyone has something to hide.

Anton Chekhov

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Topic

Secrets

Author

Anton Chekhov

Medium

Personal journal

Language

Russian

Time

1904 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chekhov, Anton. Personal notebook entry. c. 1904.

The hero of my tale, whom I love with all the power of my soul, whom I have tried to portray in all his beauty, who has been, is, and will be beautiful, is Truth.

Leo Tolstoy

Sevastopol in May

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Topic

Truth

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

Sevastopol in May

Medium

Short story

Language

Russian

Time

1855 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Севастополь в Мае [Sevastopol in May]." Sovremennik, 1855.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Sevastopol in May." The Cossacks and Other Stories, translated by David McDuff and Paul Foote. Penguin Books, 2006.

In our village, folk say God crumbles up the old moon into stars.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

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Topic

Stars The moon The night sky

Speaker

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Medium

Novel

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Folk wisdom

Language

Russian

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. "Один день Ивана Денисовича [One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]." Novy Mir, Nov. 1962.

There was peace in their hearts. They were filled with the fearlessness of those who have lost everything, the fearlessness which is not easy to come by but which endures.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

In the First Circle

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Topic

Fearlessness

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Source

In the First Circle

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksander. В круге первом [In the First Circle]. Collins & Harvill Press/‎Harper & Row, 1968, ch. 87.

When reason fails, the devil helps!

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment

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Topic

Reason Bad decisions Decisions and choices

Speaker

Raskolnikov

Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Source

Crime and Punishment

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1866 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dostoyevsky, Feodor. Преступленіе и наказаніе [Crime and Punishment]. The Russian Messenger, 1866, monthly serial.

Current Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment, translated and edited by Michael R. Katz. W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

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Topic

Infatuation Attraction

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

Anna Karenina

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Анна Каренина [Anna Karenina]. The Russian Messenger, 1875-1877. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Penguin Classics, 2014.

Power is given only to him who dares to stoop and take it... One must have the courage to dare.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment

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Topic

Power

Speaker

Raskolnikov (Rodion Romanovitch)

Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Source

Crime and Punishment

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1866 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dostoyevsky, Feodor. Преступленіе и наказаніе [Crime and Punishment]. The Russian Messenger, Jan. 1866 - Dec. 1866, monthly serial.

Current Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment, translated and edited by Michael R. Katz. W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.

The eternal error men make in imagining that happiness consists in the gratification of their wishes.

Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

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Topic

Getting what you want Happiness

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

Anna Karenina

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Russian

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Анна Каренина [Anna Karenina]. The Russian Messenger, 1875-1877. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Penguin Classics, 2014.

By loving people without cause he discovered indubitable causes for loving them.

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

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Topic

Loving others Selflessness Love

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

War and Peace

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1869 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Война и миръ [War and Peace]." The Russian Messenger, 1865-1867. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press, 2010.

In historical events great men-so called-are but labels serving to give a name to the event, and like labels they have the least possible connection with the event itself.

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

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Topic

Nature of history Great man theory of history History

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

War and Peace

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1869 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Война и миръ [War and Peace]." The Russian Messenger, 1865-1867. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Art is not, as the metaphysicians say, the manifestation of some mysterious idea of beauty or God; it is not, as the aesthetical physiologists say, a game in which man lets off his excess of stored-up energy; it is not the expression of man's emotions by external signs; it is not the production of pleasing objects; and, above all, it is not pleasure; but it is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity.

Leo Tolstoy

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Topic

Nature of art Purpose of art Art

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

What Is Art?

Medium

Essay

Language

Russian

Time

1897 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. What is Art? London: The Brotherhood Publishing Company, 1898.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. What Is Art? Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Penguin Classics, 1996.

Another’s soul is a dark forest.

Ivan Turgenev

More information about this quote

Topic

Limits of knowledge Connecting with others Intimacy

Speaker

Mikhail Alexandrovitch Rakitin

Author

Ivan Turgenev

Source

A Month in the Country

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

Russian

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Turgenev, Ivan. Two Women. 1855, act 1.

Current Citation

Turgenev, Ivan. A Month in the Country. Oxford University Press, 1991, act 1.

To crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible punishment so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

House of the Dead

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Topic

Alienating work Alienation Absurdity Shitty jobs Work

Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Source

House of the Dead

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1862 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. "Записки из Мёртвого дома [The House of the Dead]." Vremya, 1860-1862.

Current Citation

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The House of the Dead, translated by David McDuff. Penguin Classics, 1986.

A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor-such is my idea of happiness.

Leo Tolstoy

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Topic

Happiness Contentment The good life

Speaker

Sergey Mikhalych

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

Family Happiness

Language

Russian

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Семейное счастіе [Family Happiness]. The Russian Messenger, 1859.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Family Happiness, translated by J. D. Duff. Harper Perennial, 2009.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.

Vladimir Putin

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Topic

Soviet Union Russia International politics Politics

Speaker

Vladimir Putin

Source

2005 Address to Russian Parliament

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

Russian

Time

2005 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Putin, Vladimir. "Annual Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation." 25 Apr. 2005, The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.

Boris Pasternak

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Topic

Living in the moment Being present

Speaker

Yuri Andreievich Zhivago

Author

Boris Pasternak

Source

Doctor Zhivago (novel)

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Pasternak, Boris. До́ктор Жива́го [Dr. Zhivago]. Feltrinelli, 1957, pt. 2, ch. 9, sect. 14.

Current Citation

Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Vintage International, 2011, pt. 2, ch. 9, sect. 14.