The Cossacks

A man is never such an egotist as at moments of spiritual ecstasy. At such times it seems to him that there is nothing on earth more splendid and interesting than himself.

He meditated on the use to which he should put all the energy of youth which comes to a man only once in life. Should he devote this power, which is not the strength of intellect or heart or education, but an urge which once spent can never return, the power given to a man once only to make himself, or even – so it seems to him at the time – the universe into anything he wishes: should he devote it to art, to science, to love, or to practical activities? True, there are people who never have this urge: at the outset of life they place their necks under the first yoke that offers itself, and soberly toil away in it to the end of their days.

Is it possible to love a woman who will never understand the profoundest interests of my life? Is it possible to love a woman simply for her beauty, to love the statue of a woman?

I do not live my own life, there is something stronger than me which directs me. I suffer; but formerly I was dead and only now do I live.

Olenin always took his own path and had an unconscious objection to the beaten tracks.

He speaks passionately, waving his arms. But it is clear that he is searching for words, and that the words which come to him seem inadequate to express what moves him.

What are you talking about?' cried Lukashka. 'We must go through the middle gates, of course.

Happiness is being with nature, seeing her, and conversing with her.

Here's what the happiness is: it's living for the others.

He meditated on the the use to which he should devote that power of youth which is granted to man only once in a lifetime: that force which gives man a power of making himself, or even as it seemed to him - of making the universe into anything he wishes.

Happiness lies in living for others. That is evident. The desire for happiness is innate in every man; therefore it is legitimate. When trying to satisfy it selfishly—that is, by seeking for oneself riches, fame, comforts, or love—it may happen that circumstances arise which make it impossible to satisfy these desires. It follows that it is these desires that are illegitimate, but not the need for happiness. But what desires can always be satisfied despite external circumstances? What are they? Love, self-sacrifice.

He began to pray, and was obsessed by the fear lest he should die without having done any good in the world; he longed to live, and to live so as to achieve the renunciation of self.

without having to consider to what class they belonged. They all belonged to human race which without his thinking about it, all appeared dear to Olenin and they all treated him in a friendly manner way.

to be loved is in your opinion as great a happiness as to love, and if a man obtains it, it is enough for his whole life. it is a misfortune to feel guilty because you do not something you cannot give

Pero… vino el amor, se desvanecieron estas convicciones y ni siquiera las echo de menos. Hasta me resulta difícil comprender que haya podido apreciar un estado de ánimo tan exclusivo, tan frío y tan cerebral. Llegó la belleza y redujo a polvo todo aquel trabajo interior, ¡No lamento que haya desaparecido! El sacrificio es una cosa absurda. No es más que orgullo, el refugio de una desdicha merecida y un modo de huir de la envidia por la felicidad de otro. ¡Sacrificarse por los demás! ¡Hacer el bien! ¿Para qué? Cuando en mi alma no hay más que amor hacia mí mismo y un solo deseo: amarla y vivir con ella, vivir su vida”.

Y se puso a hablar de sí mismo, sin advertir que esto a los demás no les interesaba tanto como a él. El hombre nunca es tan egoísta como en un momento de exaltación. Le parece que en el mundo no hay nada tan interesante ni tan hermoso como él mismo”.

Sinful? Where's the sin?' demanded the old man. 'A sin to look at a pretty girl? A sin to walk out with one? A sin to love one? Be that a sin where you come from? No, my dear boy, that ain't no sin, 'tis salvation. God made you, and God made the girl, too. He made everything there is. So 'tain't no sin to look at a pretty wench. That's what she were made for, to be loved and to give happiness. That's the way I sees it, my good fellow.

Vanyusha regarded Olenin as no more than his master. Olenin regarded Vanyusha as no more than his servant. They would have been greatly surprised had anyone told them they were friends. And yet they were friends, without either of them knowing it.

In general people held the opinion that Beletsky was a nice, good-natured chap. Perhaps he was; but in spite of his handsome, friendly face Olenin found him extremely unpleasant. He seemed to exhale the filth that Olenin had rejected.

One Cossack with a thin face burnt black by the sun, and evidently dead drunk, lay flat on his back under a wall which had been in the shade an hour or two earlier but was now exposed to the fierce slanting rays of the sun.

... people live as the nature lives: they die, give birth, mate, then again give birth, scream, eat, drink, enjoy themselves and then again die, without any conditions, besides those immutable which the nature's predestined to sun, grass, wildlife and tree.

A man is never so selfish as in the moment of spiritual thrill.