131 Quotes by Mikhail Lermontov

We almost always forgive those we understand.

In the first place, [his eyes] never laughed when he laughed. Have you ever noticed this peculiarity some people have? It is either the sign of an evil nature or of a profound and lasting sorrow.

Happiness comes the way the wind blows.

He in his madness prays for storms, and dreams that storms will bring him peace.

my love had grown one with my soul; it became darker, but did not go out

Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea.

An unusual beginning must have an unusual end.

I have a congenital desire to contradict; my whole life is merely a chain of sad and unsuccessful contradictions to heart and mind. When faced with enthusiasm, I am seized by a midwinter freeze, and I suppose that frequent dealings with sluggish phlegmatics would have made a passionate dreamer.

I love enemies, though not in the Christian way. They amuse me, excite my blood. Being always on one’s guard, catching every glance, the significance of every word, guessing at intentions, frustrating their plots, pretending to be tricked, and suddenly, with a shove, upturning the whole enormous and arduously built edifice of their cunning and schemes—that’s what I call life.