Leek Golem

“He who has talent in him must be purer in soul than anyone else. Another will be forgiven much, but to him it will not be forgiven. A man who leaves the house in bright, festive clothes needs only one drop of mud splashed from under a wheel, and people all surround him, point their fingers at him, and talk about his slovenliness, while the same people ignore many spots on other passers-by who are wearing everyday clothes. For on everyday clothes the spots do not show.”
― Nikolai Gogol, The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

“The current generation now sees everything clearly, it marvels at the errors, it laughs at the folly of its ancestors, not seeing that this chronicle is all overscored by divine fire, that every letter of it cries out, that from everywhere the piercing finger is pointed at it, at this current generation; but the current generation laughs and presumptuously, proudly begins a series of new errors, at which their descendants will also laugh afterwards.”
― Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls

“Przecież człowiek sam dla siebie jest najbardziej dokuczliwym przymusem.”
― Wiesław Myśliwski, Traktat o łuskaniu fasoli

“Ja nie mam nic, ty nie masz nic, on nie ma nic - zaśmiał się głośno.
- To razem właśnie mamy tyle, w sam raz tyle, żeby założyć wielką fabrykę. Cóż stracimy? Zarobić zawsze można”
― Władysław Stanisław Reymont, Ziemia obiecana