Quotes from book
Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy Original title Анна Каренина (Russian, 1877)

Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Many writers consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger.

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“But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Pt. VIII, ch. 13
Source: Anna Karenina (1875–1877; 1878)
Context: Reason has discovered the struggle for existence and the law that I must throttle all those who hinder the satisfaction of my desires. That is the deduction reason makes. But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.

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“All that day she had had the feeling that she was playing in the theatre with actors better than herself and that her poor playing spoiled the whole thing.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“Then he thought himself unhappy, but happiness was all in the future; now he felt that the best happiness was already in the past.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“We walked to meet each other up at the time of our love and then we have been irresistibly drifting in different directions, and there's no altering that.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Все счастливые семьи похожи друг на друга, каждая несчастливая семья несчастлива по-своему.
Pt. I, ch. 1
Variant translations: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Variant: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Source: Anna Karenina (1875–1877; 1878)

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“The only happy marriages I know are arranged ones.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“Then we should find some artificial inoculation against love, as with smallpox.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“God forgive me everything!’ she said, feeling the impossibility of struggling…”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“No one is satisfied with his position, but every one is satisfied with his wit”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

(voice of Anna) C. Garnett, trans. (New York: 2003), Part 7, Chapter 24 p. 685
Source: Anna Karenina (1875–1877; 1878)

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“There are no conditions to which a person cannot grow accustomed, especially if he sees that everyone around him lives in the same way.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“But that's the whole aim of civilization: to make everything a source of enjoyment.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“And not only the pride of intellect, but the stupidity of intellect. And, above all, the dishonesty, yes, the dishonesty of intellect. Yes, indeed, the dishonesty and trickery of intellect.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“There are as many kinds of love, as there are hearts”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“I don't allow myself to doubt myself even for a moment.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

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“In infinite time, in infinite matter, in infinite space, is formed a bubble organism, and that bubble lasts a while and bursts, and that bubble is Me.”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina