Quotes from Nikolai Gogol

And now, at length, in my declining years, I am seeking a corner in which to eke out the remainder of my miserable existence, while at the present moment I am enjoying the hospitality of a neighbour of your acquaintance.

I confess I don't understand why it's so arranged that women grab us by the nose as deftly as if it were a teapot handle. Either their hands are made for it, or our noses are no longer good for anything.

with thousands it's hard to be quite sinless, but to make millions is easy. A millionaire has no need to resort to crooked ways. Just go on and take the straight road, take all that lies before you! No one else will pick it up.

Non si poteva dire, tuttavia, che la natura del nostro eroe fosse tanto severa e inflessibile e che i suoi sentimenti fossero ottusi a tal punto che egli non conoscesse né pietà né compassione; sentiva questa e quella, e avrebbe anche voluto aiutare, solo, questo non doveva tradursi in una somma significativa, per non toccare quei denari che era stato deciso non sarebbero stati toccati...

Going to the window,

I would portray how, in one of these low clay cottages, a dark-browed town girl with quivering young breasts tosses on her solitary bed dreaming of a hussar's mustache and spurs while moonlight laughs on her cheeks.

Siccome l'uomo russo nei momenti decisivi conserva la presenza di spirito, e fa quel che c'è da fare senza inoltrarsi in altri ragionamenti, così, prendendo a destra al primo incrocio, egli gridò: "Forza su, rispettabili amici", e si lanciò al galoppo senza preoccuparsi troppo di pensare a dove conducesse la strada che aveva preso.

If what you want, ... is to get rich quickly, then you'll never get rich; but if you want to get rich without asking about time, you'll get rich quickly.

Such a beauty, such divine features—and where, in what place!…" That was all he was able to utter.

Indeed, pity never possesses us so strongly as at the sight of beauty touched by the corrupting breath of depravity. Let ugliness make friends with it, but beauty, tender beauty … in our thoughts it is united only with chastity and purity.

No, signore, non è possibile che sono ubriaco! Io lo so che non è bene essere ubriachi.

In fact, when you think about it, if a word from the street occurs in a book it is not the writer who is guilty, but the readers, and primarily those readers belonging to the upper classes: for they are the ones who will never utter a single decent Russian word; their speech is so abundantly stuffed with every manner of French, German, and English words that you want to block your ears...

In everything the will of God, madam," said Chichikov with a sigh. "Against the divine wisdom it is not for us to rebel. Pray hand them over to me, Nastasia Petrovna." "Hand over whom?" "The dead peasants." "But how could I do that?" "Quite simply. Sell them to me, and I will give you some money in exchange." "But how am I to sell them to you? I scarcely understand what you mean. Am I to dig them up again from the ground?

I brought you into this world. It is on me to take it away.

One cannot expect men not to get drunk when there is nothing to do!

You see, wisdom does not come with grey hairs.

Ukrayna'n?n benim yurdum oldu?unu kim söylüyor? Kim, ne ad?na oray? bana yurt olarak vermi?? Ruhumu ok?ayan, beni sevgiyle kucaklayan her yer ya da her ?ey benim yurdumdur. Benim yurdum, varl???m her ?eyim sensin. Ya?ad???m sürece de sen olacaks?n. Hangi Kazak gelip beni senden koparabilecek görece?iz. Yeni yurdum için her ?eyi terk etmeye, yok etmeye haz?r?m!

Ma l'autore si vergogna molto, a occupare così a lungo i lettori con gente di basso livello, sapendo per esperienza che essi fanno conoscenza malvolentieri con i ceti bassi. È pur così l'uomo russo: ha una gran passione a frequentare quelli che sia pure di un solo grado gli stanno sopra, e un reciproco toccarsi il cappello all'incontro con un conte o un principe è per lui meglio di qualsiasi intimo rapporto amichevole.

It would be better if you didn't exist, didn't live in the world, but were the creation of an inspired artist! I would never leave the canvas, I would eternally gaze at you and kiss you. I would live and breathe by you, as the most beautiful dream, and then I would be happy. My desires could reach no further. I would call upon you as my guardian angel, before sleep and waking, and I would wait for you whenever I had to portray the divine and holy.

God, what is our life! An eternal discord between dream and reality!

Through the gates of the inn in the provincial town of N drove a rather handsome, smallish spring britzka, of the sort driven around in by bachelors: retired lieutenant colonels, staff captains, landowners possessed of some hundred peasant souls—in short, all those known as gentlemen of the middling sort.

But human nature is inscrutable: he was depressed at the thought of the disapproval of the very people he despised, at whose vanity and general behavior he had laughed.

En cuanto se entablaba una conversación con él, no se podía evitar exclamar: «¡Qué hombre tan bueno y agradable!». Un instante después, uno ya no decía nada y, a los tres minutos, pensaba: «¿Qué demonios es esto?», y se apresuraba a alejarse, pues, si no, le invadía un hastío mortal.

The last day before Christmas had passed