Boris Pasternak Quotes
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Gregariousness is always the refuge of mediocrities, whether they swear by Solovyov or Kant or Marx. Only individuals seek the truth.
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Art has two constant, two unending concerns: It always meditates on death and thus always creates life. All great, genuine art resembles and continues the Revelation of St John.
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As in an explosion, I would erupt with all the wonderful things I saw and understood in this world.
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Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words something extraordinary.
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'How wonderful to be alive,' he thought. 'But why does it always hurt?'
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They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
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It is no longer possible for lyric poetry to express the immensity of our experience. Life has grown too cumbersome, too complicated. We have acquired values which are best expressed in prose.
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I come here to speak poetry. It will always be in the grass. It will also be necessary to bend down to hear it. It will always be too simple to be discussed in assemblies.
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Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.
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As far as modern writing is concerned, it is rarely rewarding to translate it, although it might be easy. Translation is very much like copying paintings.
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Snow, snow over the whole land across all boundaries. The candle burned on the table, the candle burned.
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Am I a gangster or a murderer? Of what crime do I stand Condemned? I made the whole world weep At the beauty of my land.
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I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them.
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Ch. 1, part 5