Lermontov Quotes

“...منذ نظم الشعراء شعراً..ومنذ أن قرأت النساء هذا الشعر ( ويجب أن نشكر لهن ذلك أعمق الشكر) سُميت النساء ملائكة، وبلغت هذه التسمية من التكرار أنهن من بساطة قلوبهن صدقنها، ناسيات أن هؤلاء الشعراء أنفسهم يمكن أن يضعوا نيرون (الإمبراطور المجنون الذي أحرق روما) في مصاف أنصاف الآلهة، في سبيل مال يحصلون عليه.”
― Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time

“No, I'm not Byron, it's my role
To be an undiscovered wonder,
Like him, a persecuted wand'rer,
But furnished with a Russian soul.
I started sooner, sooner ending,
My mind will never reach so high;
Within my soul, beyond the mending,
My shattered aspirations lie:
Dark ocean answer me, can any
Plumb all your depth with skillful trawl?
Who will explain me to the many?
I... perhaps God? No one at all?”
― Mikhail Lermontov

“Lermontov became a soldier, escaping from her grandmother and her troublesome love. He exchanged the pen, which is the key to one's soul, for a pistol, which is the key to the gates of the world.”
― Milan Kundera, Life is Elsewhere

“Nay, what is human love?—a stirring
Of youthful blood to quicker flow,
But love grows chiller, as recurring
Days, years and decades, come and go.”
― Mikhail Lermontov, Demon