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31 sats \ 1 reply \ @SaloonCat 27 Apr \ parent \ on: Stacker Saloon
That seems like three distinct quotes from different works, though I don't know which.
I'm very sceptical of internet quote culture, I find it to be a huge net negative in terms of understanding. It seems that everyone points to the same few lines of the same few works and very often they make no sense outside of their context. To point to the original quote:
That's taken from War and Peace and I recognised it, but it's a female character written by Tolstoy quoting a French-Swiss author who wrote:
In the novel, she says (in French):
It's usually translated as:
It helps paint the character and illustrates the influence of French thought and language in Russia at the time of Napolean's attempt to conquer it. Throughout the novel, Tolstoy is scathing as regards the Russian aristocracy and its mindless acceptance of Western European culture. Like Dostoevsky, he sees it as a mark of low self-esteem in the Russian character.
So in the end, I find reading quotes and making assessments based on them can often lead to judgements that don't reflect the author's work or intentions.
I'm fond of Tolstoy but he has a huge of body of work I haven't read. I was just very surprised at the level of vitriol, I've never seen that before regarding his work.