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1 " If Hemingway is to believed, poverty is an invaluable school for a writer. Poverty makes a man clear-sighted. And so on. It's interesting that Hemingway realized this only when he became rich. "
― Sergei Dovlatov , The Suitcase
2 " There's a reason every book, even one that isn't very serious, is shaped like a suitcase "
3 " Our life is but a grain of sand in the indifferent ocean of infinity. "
4 " Most people consider problems whose solutions don't suit them to be insoluble.And they constantly ask questions to which they don't need truthful answers. "
5 " Три вещи может сделать женщина для русского писателя. Она может кормить его. Она может искренне поверить в его гениальность. И наконец, женщина может оставить его в покое. Кстати, третье не исключает второго и первого. "
6 " We didn’t raise our daughter, we merely loved her. "
7 " I looked at the empty suitcase. On the bottom was Karl Marx. On the lid was Brodsky. And between them, my lost, precious, only life. "
8 " No point in arguing. But of course I argued. "
9 " You can divide the world into two kinds of people: those who ask, and those who answer. Those who pose questions, and those who frown in irritation in response. "
10 " I decided to "find myself" in monumental sculpture. Alas, monumental sculpture is a very conservative genre. The cause is the monumentality itself. You can secretly write novels and symphonies. You can secretly experiment on canvas. But just try to hide a twelve-foot-high sculpture! "
11 " Nicht umsonst sagt meine Frau immer: „Dich interessiert alles, außer deinen ehelichen Pflichten.“Meine Frau versteht unter ehelichen Pflichten in erster Linie Nüchternheit. "
12 " Большинство людей считает неразрешимыми те проблемы, решение которых мало их устраивает. И они без конца задают вопросы, хотя правдивые ответы им совершенно не требуются… "
13 " Le persone, per la maggior parte, considerano insolubili i problemi la ci soluzione non va loro a genio. Così continuano senza sosta a fare domande, anche se non hanno affatto bisogno di avere risposte sincere... "
14 " The university campus was in the old part of town. The combination of water and stone creates a special, majestic atmosphere there. It's hard to be a sluggard under those circumstances, but I managed. "
15 " Leger died a Communist, having fallen once and for all for the greatest charlatanism of all times. It may be that, like many artists, he was stupid "
16 " As a schoolboy I liked to draw the leaders of the world proletariat - especially Marx. Just start smearing an ordinary splotch of ink around and you've already got a resemblance... "
17 " Abans que nasquem, hi ha un abisme. Després de morts, hi ha un abisme. La mostra vida és només un gra de sorra a l'oceà indiferent de la infinitud. Intentem almenys que aquest instant no s'enfosqueixi de tristor i d'avorriment! Intentem deixar una esgarrapada a l'escorça terrestre."La maleta, Sergei Dovlatov "
18 " The day was cold but sunny. The city was decorated with holiday flags. "
19 " [...]Basically, that marble fucker is hanging by a thread. So when the rally starts, stay to the side. And warn your wife.""But the cream of Leningrad will be standing there! What if the thing falls?""Might be for the best, the foreman replied wanly. "