Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes (63 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

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Heart of a Dog

Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Bulgakov: 63 quotes 33 likes

Famous Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes

“Everything will turn out right, the world is built on that.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“The tongue may hide the truth but the eyes—never!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Nikanor Ivanovich's Dream', B/O
Variant: The tongue can conceal the truth, but the eyes never!
Source: The Master and Margarita (1967)
Context: The tongue can conceal the truth, but the eyes never! You're asked an unexpected question, you don't even flinch, it takes just a second to get yourself under control, you know just what you have to say to hide the truth, and you speak very convincingly, and nothing in your face twitches to give you away. But the truth, alas, has been disturbed by the question, and it rises up from the depths of your soul to flicker in your eyes and all is lost.

“You should never ask anyone for anything. Never- and especially from those who are more powerful than yourself.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“Follow me reader! Who told you that there is no true, faithful, eternal love in this world! May the liar's vile tongue be cut out!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'Margarita', P/V, opening lines of Book Two
Variant: Who told you that there is no true, faithful, eternal love in this world! May the liar’s vile tongue be cut out!
Source: The Master and Margarita (1967)

“Well, as everyone knows, once witchcraft gets started, there's no stopping it.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in the chapter 'Schizophrenia, as Predicted', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“What would your good do if evil didn't exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?”

Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes about love

“But what can be done, the one who loves must share the fate of the one he loves.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“Most bad," the host concluded. "If you ask me, something sinister lurks in men who avoid wine, games, the company of lovely women, and dinnertime conversation. Such people are either gravely ill or secretly detest everyone around them.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“This twenty-year-old boy was distinguished from childhood by strange qualities, a dreamer and an eccentric. A girl fell in love with him, and he went and sold her to a brothel…”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“Punch a man on the nose, kick an old man downstairs, shoot somebody or any old thing like that, that’s my job. But argue with women in love—no thank you!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“just like a murderer jumps of nowhere in an ally, love jumped out in front of us and struck us both at once”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“What's the use of dying in a ward surrounded by a lot of groaning and croaking incurables? Wouldn't it be much better to throw a party with that twenty-seven thousand and take poison and depart for the other world to the sound of violins, surrounded by lovely drunken girls and happy friends?”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Unwelcome Visitors', MG
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes about the world

“There is no greater misfortune in the world than the loss of reason.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“and a fact is the most stubborn thing in the world.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“How sad, ye gods, how sad the world is at evening, how mysterious the mists over the swamps. You will know it when you have suffered greatly before dying, when you have walked through the world carrying an unbearable burden. You know it too when you are weary and ready to leave this earth without regret; it's mists, it's swamps and it's rivers; ready to give yourself into the arms of death with a light heart, knowing that death alone can comfort you.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'Absolution and Eternal Refuge', MG. (Note: Alternate translation of above passage ('Gods, my gods...'))
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“And now tell me, why is it that you use me words ""good people"" all the time? Do you call everyone that, or what?
- Everyone, - the prisoner replied. - There are no evil people in the world.”

Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Bulgakov: Trending quotes

“Cowardice is the most terrible of vices.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“Once upon a time there was a lady. She had no children, and no happiness either. And at first she cried for a long time, but then she became wicked...”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'Flight', B/O, Margarita talking about herself to a young girl
Source: The Master and Margarita (1967)

Children , Time , Happiness

“There's only one degree of freshness — the first, which makes it also the last”

Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes

“Yes, man is mortal, but that would be only half the trouble. The worst of it is that he's sometimes unexpectedly mortal - there's the trick!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Да, человек смертен, но это было бы ещё полбеды. Плохо то, что он иногда внезапно смертен, вот в чём фокус!
Book One in 'Never Talk with Strangers', P/V
Source: The Master and Margarita (1967)

“The hope that she might regain her happiness made her fearless.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'By Candlelight'
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Hope , Happiness

“But the truth, alas, has been disturbed by the question, and it rises up from the depths of your soul to flicker in your eyes and all is lost.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Nikanor Ivanovich's Dream', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)
Context: The tongue can conceal the truth, but the eyes never! You're asked an unexpected question, you don't even flinch, it takes just a second to get yourself under control, you know just what you have to say to hide the truth, and you speak very convincingly, and nothing in your face twitches to give you away. But the truth, alas, has been disturbed by the question, and it rises up from the depths of your soul to flicker in your eyes and all is lost.

Truth , Soul , Question

“It was the kind of look one gives someone one has heard of and thought a lot about, and whom one is meeting for the first time.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Burial', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)
Context: The procurator studied the new arrival with avid, and slightly fearful eyes. It was the kind of look one gives someone one has heard of and thought a lot about, and whom one is meeting for the first time.

Time

“Is that vodka?" Margarita asked weakly.
The cat jumped up in his seat with indignation.
"I beg pardon, my queen," he rasped, "Would I ever allow myself to offer vodka to a lady? This is pure alcohol!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

Alcohol , Cats

“In the first few seconds an aching sadness wrenched his heart, but it soon gave way to a feeling of sweet disquiet, the excitement of gypsy wanderlust”

Mikhail Bulgakov

Sadness , Way , Feeling , Heart

“You are not Dostoevsky,' said the woman…
'You never can tell…' he answered.
'Dostoevsky is dead,' the woman said, a bit uncertainly.
'I protest!' he said with heat, 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

Dead

“Why try to pursue what is completed?”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“Nobody should be whipped. Remember that, once and for all. Neither man nor animal can be influenced by anything but suggestion.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book Heart of a Dog

Source: Heart of a Dog

Animals

“Azazello begged her not to worry, assuring her that he had seen not only naked women but also women with their skin flayed clean off”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

Women

“Not causing trouble, not touching anything, fixing the primus.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“The most amazing combinations can result if you shuffle the pack enough.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“I wouldn’t like to meet you when you’ve got a revolver,” said Margarita with a coquettish look at Azazello. She had a passion for people who did things well.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

People , Passion

“If it is true that cowardice is the most grave vice, then the dog, at least, is not guilty of it.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'Time to Go! Time to Go!', B/O, here Woland is speaking to the Master about Pontius Pilate
Source: The Master and Margarita (1967)
Context: They have read your novel... and they said only one thing, that, unfortunately, it is not finished. So I wanted to show you your hero. He has been sitting here for about two thousand years, sleeping, but, when the moon is full, he is tormented, as you see, by insomnia. And it torments not only him, but his faithful guardian, the dog. If it is true that cowardice is the most grave vice, then the dog, at least, is not guilty of it. The only thing that brave creature ever feared was thunderstorms. But what can be done, the one who loves must share the fate of the one who is loved.

Dogs

“Manuscripts don't burn.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Liberation of the Master', B/O
Variant: Manuscripts don't burn.
Source: The Master and Margarita (1967)

“The whole horror of the situation is that he now has a human heart, not a dog's heart. And about the rottenest heart in all creation!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book Heart of a Dog

Source: Heart of a Dog

Dogs , Heart

“Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil, and has not only bought it, but has already spilled it.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

“Remove the document—and you remove the man.”

Mikhail Bulgakov

“I suppose that in no educational institution can one become an educated person.”

Mikhail Bulgakov

Source: The Life of Monsieur de Moliere

Education , Personality

“I challenge you to a duel!” screamed the cat, sailing over their heads on the swinging chandelier.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

Cats

“But why don't you take him with you into the light?
He does not deserve the light, he deserves peace”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Source: The Master and Margarita

Peace , Light

“'Kant ought to be arrested and given three years in Solovki asylum for that "proof" of his!' Ivan Nikolayich burst out completely unexpectedly. 'Ivan!' whispered Berlioz, embarrassed. But the suggestion to pack Kant off to an asylum not only did not surprise the stranger but actually delighted him. 'Exactly, exactly!' he cried and his green left eye, turned on Berlioz glittered. 'That's exactly the place for him! I said to him myself that morning at breakfast: "If you'll forgive me, professor, your theory is no good. It may be clever but it's horribly incomprehensible. People will think you're mad."' Berlioz's eyes bulged. At breakfast… to Kant?”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Never Talk to Strangers', MG, here Woland, Berlioz and Ivan are talking about Kant's views on existence of God
The Master and Margarita (1967)

People , Forgiveness , Thinking , Madness

“Don't be afraid, Queen … don't be afraid, Queen, the blood has long since gone into the earth. And where it was spilled, grapevines are already growing.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Great Ball at Satan's', P/V
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“... said the not entirely suppressed old Ivan, rearing his head from inside the new one, although without much confidence.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Black Magic and Its Expose', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Confidence

“I had the pleasure of meeting that young man at the Patriarch's Ponds. He almost drove me mad myself, proving to me that I don't exist. But you do believe that it is really I?”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Extraction of the Master, P/V, here Woland addresses the Master about Ivan (alias "Homless")
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Pleasure , Madness

“No documents, no person.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Liberation of the Master', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Personality

“We have no idea whether there were any other strange occurences in Moscow that night, and we have no intention of trying to find out, since the time has come for us to proceed to Part Two of this true narrative. Follow me, reader!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Unlucky Visitors', B/O, the last lines of Book One
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Idea , Time , Parting , Night

“It's all over, so let's not burden the telegraph system.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'The Incident at Griboyedov', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“Gods, my gods! How sad the earth is at eventide! How mysterious are the mists over the swamps. Anyone who has wandered in these mists, who has suffered a great deal before death, or flown above the earth, bearing a burden beyond his strength knows this. Someone who is exhausted knows this. And without regret he forsakes the mists of the earth, its swamps and rivers, and sinks into the arms of death with a light heart knowing that death alone...”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'Time to Go! Time to Go!', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Death , God , Sadness , Light

“There was something uncommonly fake and uncertain in every line of these articles, depite their threatening and self-assured tone. I kept thinking... that the authors of these articles weren't saying what they wanted to say, and that that was why they were so furious.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Enter the Hero', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Thinking

“In fact, I'm beginning to fear that this confusion will go on for a long time. And all because he writes down what I said incorrectly.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Pontius Pilate', B/O, here Yeshua is speaking to Pontius Pilate
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Fear , Time

“It was clear to him that he had lost something irretrievably that day, and that now he wanted to make up for the loss with minor, inconsequential, and most importantly, belated measures.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'How the Procurator Tried to Save Judas of Karioth', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Loss

“Foreign visitors... how impressed you all are with foreign visitors! But they come in many different varieties.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'The Evil Apartment', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“Only if some microorganism doesn't attack these tender hothouse plants and eat away at their roots, only if they don't rot! And that can happen with pineapples! Oh, yes, indeed it can!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The End of Apartment No. 50', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness, who was getting muddled by Koroviev.
'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.
'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.
'I protest!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!'
Book Two in 'The Last Adventures of Koroviev and Behemoth', P/V
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Confidence , Dead

“Second freshness - that's what is nonsense! There is only one freshness - the first - and it is also the last. And if sturgeon is of the second freshness, that means it is simply rotten.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Hapless Visitors', P/V
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“What is all this? Damn me if I don't have you thrown out of here!' The beast just smiled and said: 'Damn you, I think you said? Very well!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'A Day of Anxiety', MG
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Smile , Thinking

“Unfortunately I cannot show it to you,' replied the master, 'because I burned it in my stove.'
'I'm sorry but I don't believe you,' said Woland. 'You can't have done. Manuscripts don't burn.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Master is Released', MG
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“Never ask for anything! Never for anything, and especially from those who are stronger than you. They'll make the offer themselves, and give everything themselves.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Extraction of the Master', P/V, here Woland addresses Margarita
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“For some reason, cats are usually addressed familiarly, though no cat has ever drunk bruderschaft with anyone.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Extraction of the Master', P/V
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Cats

“Cowardice was undoubtedly one of the most terrible vices - thus spoke Yeshua Ha-Nozri. 'No, philosopher, I disagree with you: it is the most terrible vice!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'The Burial', P/V, here Pontius Pilate responds to Yeshua
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“Ryukhin showed himself no mercy-'I don't believe in anything I've ever written!”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'Schizophrenia, as Predicted', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

“He's clever,' thought Ivan,' I must admit there are some smart people even among the intelligentsia”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book One in 'The Duel Between the Professor and the Poet', B/O
The Master and Margarita (1967)

People

“They have read your novel... and they said only one thing, that, unfortunately, it is not finished. So I wanted to show you your hero. He has been sitting here for about two thousand years, sleeping, but, when the moon is full, he is tormented, as you see, by insomnia. And it torments not only him, but his faithful guardian, the dog. If it is true that cowardice is the most grave vice, then the dog, at least, is not guilty of it. The only thing that brave creature ever feared was thunderstorms. But what can be done, the one who loves must share the fate of the one who is loved.”

Mikhail Bulgakov book The Master and Margarita

Book Two in 'Time to Go! Time to Go!', B/O, here Woland is speaking to the Master about Pontius Pilate
The Master and Margarita (1967)

Sleep , Faith , Reading , Fate

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