Quotes from book
The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov Original title Мастер и Маргарита (Russian, 1967)

The Master and Margarita is a novel by Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version was published in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967, after the writer's death. The manuscript was not published as a book until 1967, in Paris. A samizdat version circulated that included parts cut out by official censors, and these were incorporated in a 1969 version published in Frankfurt. The novel has since been published in several languages and editions.


Mikhail Bulgakov photo

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

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.

Mikhail Bulgakov photo

“Cowardice is the most terrible of vices.”

Source: The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov photo

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

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

Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo

“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!”

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)

Mikhail Bulgakov photo

“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...”

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

Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo

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

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

Mikhail Bulgakov photo

“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!”

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)

Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo

“Manuscripts don't burn.”

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

Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo

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

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.

Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo

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