A Gentleman in Moscow

by Amor Towles

’Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready to abandon his suite. From the earliest age, we must learn to say

But experience is less likely to teach us how to bid our dearest possessions adieu. And if it were to? We wouldn’t welcome the education. For eventually, we come to hold our dearest possessions more closely than we hold our friends. We carry them from place to place, often at considerable expense and inconvenience; we dust and polish their surfaces and reprimand children for playing too roughly in their vicinity—all the while, allowing memories to invest them with greater and greater importance.

if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.

Mikhail Fyodorovich Mindich

Mikhail Fyodorovich,

definitive

victory on the field of battle begins with the shine on a boot.

Vladimir Mayakovsky,

Walter Duranty,

If you are ever in doubt, just remember that unlike adults, children want to be happy.