“I assume that a salary is the price paid for a commodity, and it ought to conform with the law of supply and demand.  If the salary is fixed without any regard for that law, as, for instance, when I see two engineers leaving college together, both equally well trained and efficient, and one getting [...]

All he knew and felt was that what was happening was what had happened nearly a year before in the hotel of the country town at the deathbed of his brother Nikolay.  But that had been grief– this was joy.  Yet that grief and this joy were alike outside all the ordinary conditions of life; [...]

At the concert in the afternoon two very interesting things were performed.  One was a fantasia, _King Lear;_ the other was a quartette dedicated to the memory of Bach.  Both were new and in the new style, and Levin was eager to form an opinion of them. After escorting his sister-in-law to her stall, he [...]

One event, an event of great importance to both from that point of view, did indeed happen–that was Kitty’s meeting with Vronsky.The old Princess Marya Borissovna, Kitty’s godmother, who had always been very fond of her, had insisted on seeing her.  Kitty, though she did not go into society at all on account of her [...]

“I’m afraid that we have too many of these public duties in these latter days.  Just as in old days there were so many government functionaries that one had to call in a functionary for every single thing, so now everyone’s doing some sort of public duty. Alexey has been here now six months, and [...]

You haven’t told me yet how and what you think about me, and I keep wanting to know.  But I’m glad you will see me as I am. The chief thing I shouldn’t like would be for people to imagine I want to prove anything.  I don’t want to prove anything; I merely want to [...]

On the bridge was a crowd of peasant women with coils of ties for the sheaves on their shoulders, gaily and noisily chattering.  They stood still on the bridge, staring inquisitively at the carriage.  All the faces turned to Darya Alexandrovna looked to her healthy and happy, making her envious of their enjoyment of life. [...]

For the first minute she had been offended at his jealousy; she was angry that the slightest amusement, even the most innocent, should be forbidden her; but now she would readily have sacrificed, not merely such trifles, but everything, for his peace of mind, to save him from the agony he was suffering.- Kitty from [...]

Countess Lidia Ivanovna usually wrote some two or three letters a day to Alexey Alexandrovitch.  She enjoyed that form of communication, which gave opportunity for a refinement and air of mystery not afforded by their personal interviews. -Tolstoy, Anna Karenina