“Happy are the downtrodden.”

“And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness.”

“Ecco che cos'era la vita, che cos'era l'esperienza, che cosa inseguivano coloro che andavano in cerca di avventure, ecco a che cosa mirava l'arte: ritornare a casa propria, ai propri affetti, riprendere la vita”

“Progress in science is governed by the laws of repulsion, every step forward is made by refutation of prevalent errors and false theories. Forward steps in art are governed by the law of attraction, are the result of imitation of and admiration for beloved predecessors.”

“How wonderful to be alive, he thought. But why does it always hurt?”

“And why is it, thought Lara, that my fate is to see everything and take it all so much to heart?”

“He was a natural, and in the Russian way, tragically above these banalities.”