My own heart would have concealed it from me, for failure to love is almost like murder and I would have been incapable of inflicting such a blow on anyone.
Original text (Russian)
Original text (Russian)
Don't sleep, don't sleep, artist,
Don't give in to sleep.
You are eternity's hostage
A captive of time.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
Not for the body, but for the heart; companion and company are needed.
Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies,
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise.
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Boris Pasternak (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.