The Precipice Quotes

“It is only the female half of the human race has been endowed with the powers to run the world. Only they are not understood, not recognized, and not cultivated by themselves, or by men, and are crassly trampled underfoot, and appropriated by the male half which is not capable of exercising these great powers, and in any case, out of sheer pride does not have the good sense to yield to them.”
― Ivan Goncharov, The Precipice

“They worked equally hard at all their subjects and showed no special interest in any one of them in particular. Later, in their careers, or their lives in general, they went wherever they were sent, and served in any position they were appointed to, and whatever task they were assigned, they performed “satisfactorily”. They just moved straight ahead, looking neither left nor right.”
― Ivan Goncharov, The Precipice

“In the same waythat a single drop of water can reflect the sun, so he reflected the whole of the life of St Petersburg: its practicality, its mores, its tone, its nature and its careers – which were its second nature – and nothing more than that.”
― Ivan Goncharov, The Precipice

“Вся эта история была безукоризненно нравственна, чиста и до нестерпимости скучна.”
― Ivan Goncharov, The Precipice