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A candle burned on the table, a candle burned ... he whispered to himself — the beginning of something confused, formless; he hoped that it would take shape of itself. But nothing more came to him.

— Boris Pasternak Doctor Zhivago (1957)

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More quotes by Boris Pasternak

They don’t ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.

Gregariousness is always the refuge of mediocrities, whether they swear by Solovyov or Kant or Marx. Only individuals seek the truth.

Doctor Zhivago (1957)

The idea that underlies this is that communion between mortals is immortal, and that the whole of life is symbolic because it is meaningful.

Doctor Zhivago (1957)

What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup.

Bridges to Infinity : The Human Side of Mathematics (1983)

Don't sleep, don't sleep, artist,
Don't give in to sleep.
You are eternity's hostage
A captive of time.

All Boris Pasternak quotes →

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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.