Anna Karenina

there was something false in the whole shape of their family life

‘I can, but I can’t be the first to speak of it. By that alone you can see whether I’ve guessed right or not,’ said Stepan Arkadyich, glancing at Levin with a subtle smile.

steeds I can tell by their something-or-other thighs, and young men in love by the look in their eyes,’19 declaimed Stepan Arkadyich. ‘You’ve got everything before you.’
‘And with you it’s already behind?’
‘No, not behind, but you have the future and I the present - a bit of this, a bit of that.’

‘But that’s the aim of civilization: to make everything an enjoyment.’
‘Well, if that’s its aim, I’d rather be wild.’
‘You’re wild as it is. All you Levins are wild.’

I don’t have any skates,’ Levin replied, surprised at this boldness and casualness in her presence and not losing sight of her for a moment, though he was not looking at her. He felt the sun approach him.

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

There seemed to be nothing very special in her dress, nor in her pose; but for Levin she was as easy to recognize in that crowd as a rose among nettles. Everything was lit up by her. She was the smile that brightened everything around

And this repulsive kindness everyone loves and praises him for - I hate this kindness of his.

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

ut in spite of that, as often happens between people who have chosen different ways, each of them, while rationally justifying the other’s activity, despised it in his heart. To each of them it seemed that the life he led was the only real life, and the one his friend led was a mere illusion.