"Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea."

Mikhail Lermontov Literature See all quotes by Mikhail Lermontov →

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More by Mikhail Lermontov

“The history of a man's soul, even the pettiest soul, is hardly less interesting and useful than the history of a whole people; especially when the former is the result of the observations of a mature mind upon itself, and has been written without any egotistical desire of arousing sympathy or astonishment. Rousseau's Confessions has precisely this defect – he read it to his friends.”

“One should never spurn a penitent criminal: in his despair he may become twice as much a criminal as before.”

“Happy people are ignoramuses and glory is nothing else but success, and to achieve it one only has to be cunning.”

“Women! Women! Who can understand them? Their smiles contradict their glances, their words promise and allure, but the tone of their voice repels.”

“Russian ladies, for the most part, cherish only Platonic love, without mingling any thought of matrimony with it; and Platonic love is exceedingly embarrassing.”

“In simple hearts the feeling for the beauty and grandeur of nature is a hundred-fold stronger and more vivid than in us, ecstatic composers of narratives in words and on paper.”

Resonant Thoughts

"For the greater part of its course the river Drina flows through narrow gorges between steep mountains or through deep ravines with precipitous banks. In a few places only the river banks spread out t…"

— Ivo Andrić

Literature1892–1975

#nature

"I became quite green - I have a very strong connection to nature. I read that if we fish the way we fish, in 2048 there will be no more fish left, which is pretty soon. So it's a statement."

— Petra Němcová

1979

#nature

"He's definitely a character. But he's his own marketing tool, and he does it very well. He's real laid-back and subdued most times. Real down-to-earth guy. And when it's lights-camera-action -- differ…"

— Terrell Owens

1973

#nature

"The sky was as full of motion and change as the desert beneath it was monotonous and still, — and there was so much sky, more than at sea, more than anywhere else in the world. The plain was there, un…"

— Willa Cather

Literature1873–1947

#nature