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

ту вѣчную ошибку, которую дѣлаютъ люди, представляя себѣ счастье осуществленіемъ желанія.

Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

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More information about this quote

Topic

Getting what you want Happiness

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

Anna Karenina

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Russian

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

Russia Europe

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.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Leo Tolstoy

The strongest of all warriors are these two-Time and Patience.

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

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More information about this quote
Topic
Time Patience
Speaker
Prince Mikhail Kutúzov

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.

Another quote about Happiness

To be happy is to be able to become aware of oneself without fright.

Walter Benjamin

One Way Street

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More information about this quote
Topic
Self-knowledge Happiness

Author

Walter Benjamin
Source
One Way Street
Language
German
Time
1979 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Benjamin, Walter. Einbahnstraße [One Way Street]. Ernst Rowohlt Verlag, 1928.

Current Citation

Benjamin, Walter. One-Way Street, translated by Edmund Jephcott, edited by Michael W. Jennings. Belknap Press, 2016.

Another quote originally in Russian

The vague, crepuscular time; the time of regrets that resemble hopes, of hopes that resemble regrets, when youth has passed, but old age has not yet arrived.

Ivan Turgenev

Fathers and Sons

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More information about this quote
Topic
Middle age

Author

Ivan Turgenev
Source
Fathers and Sons
Medium
Novel
Language
Russian
Time
1862 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Turgenev, Ivan. "Отцы и дети [Fathers and Sons]." The Russian Messenger, 1862.

Current Citation

Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons, translated by Richard Freeborn. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Another quote of the following type Paradox

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.

Colleen McCullough

The Thorn Birds

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More information about this quote
Topic
Bird songs Birds

Author

Colleen McCullough
Source
The Thorn Birds
Medium
Novel
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
English
Time
1977 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

McCullough, Colleen. The Thorn Birds. Harper & Row, 1977, epigraph.