Paullina Simons: Doing

“Ask yourself these three questions, Tatiana Metanova, and you will know who you are. Ask: What do believe in? What do you hope for? What do you love?”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

Variant: Ask yourself three questions and you will know who you are. Ask 'What do you believe in? What do you hope for? But most important - ask what do you love?
Source: The Bronze Horseman (2001)

Love , Hope , Question

“Tatiana: "Why did we spend two days fighting when we could have been doing this?"
Alexander: "That wasn't fighting, Tatiana. That was foreplay.”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

Source: The Bronze Horseman

Fight

“Tatiana, I love you. Do you hear me? I love you like I’ve never loved anyone in my whole life. Now, get up. For me, Tatia. For me, please get up and go take care of your sister. Go on. And I’ll take care of you.” His lips kissed her cheek.”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

Source: The Bronze Horseman

Love , Life , Kiss , Sister

“Alexander smoked and watched her from his tree stump bench. What are you doing? she would ask him.

Nothing, he would reply. Nothing but growing my pain into madness.”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

Source: The Bronze Horseman

Pain , Tree , Madness

“Oh Alexander," she said, "what do you want from me…"
"Everything!" he whispered fiercely.”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

Source: The Bronze Horseman

“There will be only one standard, the standard of survival at all cost, and it will be up to you to say at what price survival. Hold your head high, and if you are going to go down, go down knowing you have not in any way compromised your soul.
Pulling him by the arm, Babushka said “That’s enough. Tania, you do whatever you have to do to survive, and damn your soul.””

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

The Bronze Horseman (2001)

Way , Soul

“(Tatiana nervously looked down at the present.)
"Thank you".
Gifts were not something she was used to. Wrapped gifts? Unheard of, even when they came wrapped only in plain brown paper.
"No. Open first. Then say thank you."
She smiled.
"What do I do? Do I take the paper off?"
"Yes. You tear it off."
"And then what?"
"And then you throw it away."
"The whole present or just the paper?" Slowly he said, "Just the paper."
"and but you wrapped it so nicely. Why would I throw it away?"
"It’s just paper."”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

"If it’s just paper, why did you wrap it?"
The Bronze Horseman (2001)

Smile , Tear