“He stepped down, avoiding any long look at her as one avoids long looks at the sun, but seeing her as one sees the sun, without looking.”

—  Leo Tolstoy, book Anna Karenina

Pt. I, ch. 9
Variant: He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.
Source: Anna Karenina (1875–1877; 1878)

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Leo Tolstoy456
Russian writer 1828–1910

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