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Aleksandr Pushkin

37 quotes

“The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God save us from seeing a Russian revolt, senseless and merciless. Those who plot impossible upheavals among us, are either young and do not know our people, or are hard-hearted men who do not care a straw either about their own lives or those of others.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Found in Pushkin's. The Captain's Daughter and Other Stories. English edition by Random House LLC. 2013. p. 139
“‎На берегу пустынных волн Стоял он, дум великих полн,”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Opening lines of The Bronze Horseman (1833) trans. Charles Johnston.
“And thus He mused: "From here, indeed Shall we strike terror in the Swede? And here a city by our labor Founded, shall gall our haughty neighbor; "Here cut" - so Nature gives command - Your window through on Europe; stand Firm-footed by the sea, unchanging!”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Bronze Horseman (1833).
“‘Tis time, my friend, ‘tis time! For rest the heart is aching; Days follow days in flight, and every day is taking Fragments of being, while together you and I Make plans to live. Look, all is dust, and we shall die.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) first seen 1834 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tis Time, My Friend, l. 1-5 (1834).
“The heavy hanging chains shall fall, The walls shall crumble at the word, And Freedom greet you with the light And brothers give you back the sword.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God grant you, friends, a helping hand— In cares of state and private plights, In rowdy feasts of friendship's band, In passion's sweet and secret rites! God grant you, friends, a helping hand— In daily woes and days of strife, On vacant sa, in distant land, In every black abyss of life!”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pushkin, 19 October 1827. as quoted in Pushkin, Alexander (2009). Selected Lyric Poetry. Northwestern University Press, p. 121.
“What grace could all your worldly power bring To One whose crown of thorns has made him King, The Christ who gave His body to the flails, Who humbly bore the lance and piercing nails? Or do you fear the rabble might disgrace The One.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Secular Power as quoted in Pushkin, Alexander (2009). Selected Lyric Poetry. Northwestern University Press, p. 121.
“Come purge my soul, Thou Master of my days, Of vain and empty words, of idle ways, Of base ambition and the urge to rule; That hidden serpent that corrupts a fool; and grant me, Lord, to see my sins alone. That I not call my brother to atone; Make chaste my heart and lend me from above Thy fortitude, humility, and love.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Prayer as quoted in Pushkin, Alexander (2009). Selected Lyric Poetry. Northwestern University Press, p. 199.
“Но так и быть — рукой пристрастной Прими собранье пестрых глав, Полусмешных, полупечальных, Простонародных, идеальных, Небрежный плод моих забав, Бессониц, легких вдохновений, Незрелых и увядших лет, Ума холодных наблюдений И сердца горестных замет.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There yet remains but one concluding tale, And then this chronicle of mine is ended— Fulfilled, the duty God ordained to me, A sinner. Not without purpose did the Lord Put me to witness much for many years And educate me in the love of books. One day some indefatigable monk Will find my conscientious, unsigned work; Like me, he will light up his ikon-lamp And, shaking from the scroll the age-old dust, He will transcribe these tales in all their truth.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Unforced, as conversation passed, he had the talent of saluting felicitously every theme, of listening like a judge-supreme while serious topics were disputing, or, with an epigram-surprise, of kindling smiles in ladies' eyes.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Всегда довольный сам собой, Своим обедом и женой.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man who's active and incisive can yet keep nail-care much in mind: why fight what's known to be decisive? custom is despot of mankind.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Недуг, которого причину Давно бы отыскать пора, Подобный английскому сплину, Короче: русская хандра”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Прошла любовь, явилась Муза, И прояснился темный ум. Свободен, вновь ищу союза Волшебных звуков, чувств и дум;”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Привычка свыше нам дана: Замена счастию она.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Send me, Almighty, I petition, In porticoes or at a ball No bonneted academician, No seminarist in a yellow shawl! No more than in red lips unsmiling Can I find anything beguiling In grammar-perfect Russian speech. What purist magazines beseech, A novel breed of belles may heed it, And bend us (for my life of sin) To strict grammatic discipline, Prescribing meter, too, where needed; But I - what is all this to me? I like things as they used to be”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. 3, st. 28. (Translated by Walter Arndt in Eugene Onegin (2009). Penguin.
“The less we show our love to a woman, Or please her less, and neglect our duty, The more we trap and ruin her surely In the flattering toils of philandery.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The clock of doom had struck as fated; the poet, without a sound, let fall his pistol on the ground.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Москва… как много в этом звуке Для сердца русского слилось! Как много в нем отозвалось!”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Что наши лучшие желанья, Что наши свежие мечтанья Истлели быстрой чередой, Как листья осенью гнилой.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pimen [writing in front of a sacred lamp]: One more, the final record, and my annals Are ended, and fulfilled the duty laid By God on me a sinner. Not in vain Hath God appointed me for many years A witness, teaching me the art of letters; A day will come when some laborious monk Will bring to light my zealous, nameless toil, Kindle, as I, his lamp, and from the parchment Shaking the dust of ages will transcribe My true narrations.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pushkin, Alexander (2012). Pushkin's Boris Gudunov. Oberon Books.
“Like some magistrate grown gray in office, Calmly he contemplates alike the just And unjust, with indifference he notes Evil and good, and knows not wrath nor pity.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah! heavy art thou, crown of Monomakh!”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mosalsky: Good folk! Maria Godunov and her son Feodor have poisoned themselves. We have seen their dead bodies. [The People are silent with horror.] Why are ye silent? Cry, Long live the Tsar Dimitry Ivanovich! [The People are speechless.]”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why rave ye, babblers, so -- ye lords of popular wonder?”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And shall Slavonic streams meet in a Russian ocean --”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“.. you mark the fate”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What stirs ye? Is it that this nation”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The bread of the stranger is bitter," says Dante, "and his staircase hard to climb." But who can know what the bitterness of dependence is so well as the poor companion of an old lady of quality?”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have come to you against my wish," she said in a firm voice: "but I have been ordered to grant your request. Three, seven, ace, will win for you if played in succession, but only on these conditions: that you do not play more than one card in twenty-four hours, and that you never play again during the rest of your life. I forgive you my death, on condition that you marry my companion, Lizaveta Ivanovna.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Two fixed ideas can no more exist together in the moral world than two bodies can occupy one and the same place in the physical world.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ace has won!" cried Hermann, showing his card. "Your queen has lost," said Chekalinsky, politely. Hermann started; instead of an ace, there lay before him the queen of spades! He could not believe his eyes, nor could he understand how he had made such a mistake. At that moment it seemed to him that the queen of spades smiled ironically and winked her eye at him. He was struck by her remarkable resemblance... "The old Countess!" he exclaimed, seized with terror.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hermann went out of his mind, and is now confined in room Number 17 of the Obukhov Hospital. He never answers any questions, but he constantly mutters with unusual rapidity: "Three, seven, ace!" "Three, seven, queen!”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the loud day for men who sow and reap Grows still, and on the silence of the town The insubstantial veils of night and sleep, The meed of the day's labour, settle down, Then for me in the stillness of the night The wasting, watchful hours drag on their course, And in the idle darkness comes the bite Of all the burning serpents of remorse; Dreams seethe; and fretful infelicities Are swarming in my over-burdened soul, And Memory before my wakeful eyes With noiseless hand unwinds her lengthy scroll. Then, as with loathing I peruse the years, I tremble, and I curse my natal day, Wail bitterly, and bitterly shed tears, But cannot wash the woeful script away.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tormented by spiritual thirst, I dragged myself through a somber desert. And a six-winged seraph Appeared to meet me at the crossing of the ways. He touched my eyes With fingers as light as a dream: And my prophetic eyes opened Like those of a frightened eagle. He touched my ears And they were filled with noise and ringing: And I heard the shuddering of the heavens, And the flight of the angels in the heights, And the movement of the beasts of the sea under the waters, And the sound of the vine growing in the valley. He bent down to my mouth And tore out my tongue, Sinful, decitful, and given to idle talk; with the right hand steeped in blood He inserted the tongue of a wise serpent, Into my benumbed mouth. He clove my breast with a sword, And plucked out my quivering heart, And thrust a coal of live fire Into my gaping breast. Like a corpse I lay in the desert. And the voice of God called out to me: 'Arise, O prophet, see and hear, Be filled with my will, Go forth over land and sea, And set the hearts of men on fire with your Word.'”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: English translation found in New Society, Volume 8, (1966). New Society Limited. p. 413. Also quoted by Kahn, Andrew (2006). The Cambridge Companion to Pushkin. Cambridge University Press, p. 84.