In the end, nature is inexorable: it has no reason to hurry and, sooner or later, it takes what belongs to it. Unconsciously and inflexibly obedient to its own laws, it doesnt know art, just as it doesnt know freedom, just as it doesnt know goodness. – Ivan Turgenev
Who among us has the strength to oppose petty egoism, those petty good feelings, pity and remorse? – Ivan Turgenev
Nature creates while destroying, and doesnt care whether it creates or destroys as long as life isnt extinguished, as long as death doesnt lose its rights. – Ivan Turgenev
To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness. – Ivan Turgenev
My desire to curtail undue freedom of speech extends only to such public areas as restaurants, airports, streets, hotel lobbies, parks, and department stores. Verbal exchanges between consenting adults in private are as of little interest to me as they probably are to them. – Fran Lebowitz