03-06-2008, 08:15 AM
From Anna Karenina:
Levin: "oh well, i never stop thinking about death. It's quite true that this is just a lot of nonsense. I will tell you frankly: I care a lot about my idea and my work, but, come to think of it, the whole thing, i mean, this whole world of ours is just a speck of mildew grown up on a tiny planet. And we think we can have something tremendous - ideas, actions! It's all a grain of sand."
Oblonsky: "But my dear fellow, this is as old as the hills."
Levin: "Old, yes, but, you know, once you grasp it clearly, everything becomes so insignificant. When you've grasped the fact that today or tomorrow you will die and nothing will be left of you, everything becomes so insignificant. I consider my idea very important, but, it to, turns out to be of now more significance, even if it were possible to carry it out, than walking around in this bearskin. And so you spend your life diverting yourself with hunting and work, just not to think of death."
......"And, you know, there is less charm in life when you think of death, but it's more peaceful."
Levin: "oh well, i never stop thinking about death. It's quite true that this is just a lot of nonsense. I will tell you frankly: I care a lot about my idea and my work, but, come to think of it, the whole thing, i mean, this whole world of ours is just a speck of mildew grown up on a tiny planet. And we think we can have something tremendous - ideas, actions! It's all a grain of sand."
Oblonsky: "But my dear fellow, this is as old as the hills."
Levin: "Old, yes, but, you know, once you grasp it clearly, everything becomes so insignificant. When you've grasped the fact that today or tomorrow you will die and nothing will be left of you, everything becomes so insignificant. I consider my idea very important, but, it to, turns out to be of now more significance, even if it were possible to carry it out, than walking around in this bearskin. And so you spend your life diverting yourself with hunting and work, just not to think of death."
......"And, you know, there is less charm in life when you think of death, but it's more peaceful."