Eugene Onegin

“It's a lucky man, a very lucky man, who is committed to what he believes, who has stifled intellectual detachment and can relax in the luxury of his emotions - like a tipsy traveller resting for the night at wayside inn.”

“He filled a shelf with a small army of books and read and read; but none of it made sense. .. They were all subject to various cramping limitations: those of the past were outdated, and those of the present were obsessed with the past.”

“But even friendship like our heroes' 

Exist no more; for we've outgrown 

All sentiments and deem men zeroes-- 

Except of course ourselves alone. 

We all take on Napoleon's features, 

And millions of our fellow creatures 

Are nothing more to us than tools... 

Since feelings are for freaks and fools. 

Eugene, of course, had keen perceptions 

And on the whole despised mankind, 

Yet wasn't, like so many, blind; 

And since each rule permits exceptions, 

He did respect a noble few, 

And, cold himself, gave warmth its due.”

“..depression still kept guard on him, and chased after him like a shadow - or like a faithful wife.”

“Thus heaven's gift to us is this: That habit takes the place of bliss.”

Alexander Pushkin