Aphorisms and quotes by N. M. Karamzin
• Like the fruit of a tree, life is sweetest just before it begins to fade.
• There is no time limit for affection: you can always love as long as your heart is alive.
• Words are not invented by academies; they are born along with thoughts. (from the speech at the election of Karamzin as an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences)
• History in a sense is the sacred book of peoples: the main, necessary; a mirror of their existence and activity; the tablet of revelations and rules; the covenant of ancestors to posterity; addition, explanation of the present and example of the future.
• Rulers, Legislators act according to the instructions of History and look at its pages like sailors at drawings of the seas. Human wisdom needs experience, and life is short-lived. One must know how from time immemorial rebellious passions agitated civil society and in what ways the beneficial power of the mind curbed their stormy desire to establish order, harmonize the benefits of people and give them the happiness possible on earth. But an ordinary citizen should also read History. She reconciles him with the imperfection of the visible order of things, as with an ordinary phenomenon in all centuries; consoles in state disasters, testifying that similar ones have happened before, even worse ones have happened, and the State was not destroyed; it nourishes a moral feeling and with its righteous judgment disposes the soul towards justice, which affirms our good and the harmony of society.
• Curiosity is akin to man, both the enlightened and the wild. At the glorious Olympic Games, the noise fell silent, and the crowds remained silent around Herodotus, reading the legends of the centuries.
• You don’t need to be Russian: you just need to think in order to read with curiosity the traditions of the people who, with courage and courage, gained dominance over a ninth part of the world, discovered countries hitherto unknown to anyone, introducing them into the general system of Geography and History
• Both Natural and Civil History does not tolerate fiction, depicting what is or was, and not what could be. But History, they say, is filled with lies: let’s say better that in it, as in human affairs, there is an admixture of lies, but the character of truth is always more or less preserved; and this is enough for us to form a general concept of people and actions. The more demanding and stricter the Criticism; it is all the more inadmissible for the Historian, for the benefit of his talent, to deceive conscientious Readers, to think and speak for Heroes who have long been silent in their graves. What remains for him, chained, so to speak, to the dry charters of antiquity? order, clarity, strength, painting. He creates from a given substance: he will not produce gold from copper, but must also purify copper; must know the price and properties; to reveal the great where it is hidden, and not to give the small the rights of the great. There is no subject so poor that Art cannot mark itself in it in a way that is pleasing to the mind.
• Every century, every nation gives special colors to a skillful writer of everyday life.
• A skillful narrative is the duty of a writer of everyday life, and a good individual thought is a gift: the reader demands the first and thanks for the second when his demand has already been fulfilled.
• Where there is no love, there is no soul.
• The Historian is not a Chronicler: the latter looks only at time, and the former at the nature and connection of actions: he may make a mistake in the distribution of places, but must show his place to everything.
• A learned and glorious man, Schletser, said that our History has five main periods; that Russia from 862 to Svyatopolk should be called nascent (Nascens), from Yaroslav to the Mughals divided (Divisa), from Batu to John oppressed (Oppressa), from John to Peter the Great victorious (Victrix), from Peter to Catherine II prosperous. This idea seems to me more witty than thorough. 1) The century of St. Vladimir was already a century of power and glory, and not birth. 2) The state was divided before 1015. 3) If according to the internal state and external actions of Russia it is necessary to mean periods, then is it possible to mix at one time the Grand Duke Dimitri Alexandrovich and Donskoy, silent slavery with victory and glory? 4) The Age of the Impostors is marked by more misfortune than victory. Much better, truer, more modest, our history is divided into the oldest from Rurik to John III, the middle from John to Peter, and the new from Peter to Alexander.
• The world has long been called a stormy ocean, but happy is he who sails with a compass.
• We are all like a fly on a cart: we put on airs and, in our innocence, consider ourselves to be the culprits of great events.
• Let's forget ourselves for a moment In the sorcery of red fiction.
• The people are sharp iron, which is dangerous to play with, and the revolution is an open coffin for virtue and villainy itself.
• There is little difference between petty and so-called important activities; one inner urge and feeling is important. Do what and how you can: just love what is good, and what is good - ask your conscience.
• The sage who knew people, Said that the world is worth deception: We are all, my friend, liars, Common people, sages; The truth for us is covered with an impenetrable fog.
• Courage is a great quality of the soul; the people marked by it should be proud of themselves.
• We are forever what we are destined to be in the world. Drive nature through the door: it will fly into the window.
• I don’t stop others from thinking differently.
• Nothing is new under the sun: What is, that was, will forever be. And before, blood flowed like a river, And before, a man cried.
Quotes from Karamzin
Prepared by: Dmitry Sirotkin
Compiled a selection of quotes from the Russian writer and historian Nikolai Karamzin (1766-1826).
He was a prominent representative of sentimentalism and the author of the famous “History of the Russian State.”
Quotes are summarized by topic: countries and cities, man, state, human manifestations, history, love, life ethics, life, patriotism, art, women, Russia, reforms of Peter I, happiness, law, revolution, education, smart and stupid, light , passions, marriage, travel, solitude, friendship, talents, words.
About countries and cities
England is a brick kingdom; both in the city and in the villages all the houses are made of bricks, covered with tiles and unpainted. Everywhere you see the smoke of earthen coals; you can smell them everywhere, which is very unpleasant for me; The streets are wide and perfectly clean.
England can be called a land of beauty - and a traveler who is not captivated by pretty English women; who, especially having come from France, where there are very few beauties, can look indifferently at their charms, must have a heart of stone.
The English love to do good, love to surprise with their generosity and will always help the unfortunate as soon as they are sure that he did not pretend to be unhappy. Otherwise, they would rather let him die of hunger than help, fearing deception that would be offensive to their pride.
London is wonderful! What a difference with Paris! There is enormity and nastiness, here there is simplicity with amazing purity; there luxury and poverty are in eternal opposition, here there is uniformity of general prosperity.
"I am in Paris!" This thought produces in my soul some special, quick, inexplicable, pleasant movement... “I’m in Paris!” - I say to myself and run from street to street, from the Tuliers to the Champs Elysees, suddenly I stop, look at everything with excellent curiosity: at the houses, at the carriages, at the people.
Paris is the only city. Nowhere, perhaps, can one find so much material for philosophical observations as here; nowhere are there so many interesting objects for a person who knows how to appreciate art; nowhere is there so much distraction and fun. But where are so many dangers for philosophy, especially for the heart?
The wise legislators of Tsirich knew that luxury can be the grave of freedom and good morals, and they tried to block its entry into their republic. Men cannot wear silk or velvet here, and women cannot wear diamonds or lace.
The surroundings of Dresden are beautiful, and Leipzig is lovely. The former can be likened to a woman about whom everyone at first sight shouts: “What a beauty!”, and the latter - one whom everyone likes, but only quietly, who is still praised, but only without delight.
About a human
Man was created to work, work and enjoy. He is more tenacious than all creatures, he can endure anything. For him there is no perfect deprivation, no perfect disaster, except disgrace.
We are forever what we are destined to be in the world. Drive nature through the door: it will fly into the window.
Do you know your heart? Can you always be responsible for your movements? Is reason always the king of your feelings?
How poor a person is: passions mean grief and torment to us; Without passion, life is not life, but boredom: Love - and shed tears, Be calm - and yawn forever.
There are two opposite inclinations in human nature: one always draws our heart to new objects, and the other ties us to old ones; one is called inconstancy, love of news, and the other is called habit.
Temperament is the foundation of our moral being, and character is its random form. We are born with a temperament, but without a character, which is formed little by little from external impressions. Character, of course, depends on temperament, but only partly, depending, however, on the type of objects acting on us. The special ability to receive impressions is temperament; the form that these impressions give to a moral being is character.
By the way, quotes about a person
About the state
Phrases are for newspapers, only rules are for the state.
The sun still flows today according to the same laws that it flowed by before the appearance of Christ the Savior: and civil societies have not changed their fundamental statutes; everything remained as it was on earth, and it couldn’t be otherwise.
Both our life and the life of empires must contribute to the revelation of the great abilities of the human soul: here everything is for the soul, everything for the mind and feelings.
For its security, the state needs not only physical, but also moral power; sacrificing honor and justice, we harm the latter.
Fellow citizens! We recognize in the depths of our hearts the beneficence of monarchical rule... It is more consistent with the purpose of civil societies than all others: for it most contributes to peace and security.
A republic without virtue and heroic love for the fatherland is inanimate labor.
State benefit can never justify atrocities; morality exists not only for private people, but also for Sovereigns: they must act in such a way that the rules of their actions can be general laws.
Long-term misfortunes of the state enrage the hearts and harm the very morality of people.
Any news in the state order is an evil, which should be resorted to only when necessary, for at one time it gives the proper firmness to the statutes; for we respect more what we have respected for a long time, and we do everything out of habit.
Enlightenment brings together the properties of nations and people, making them equal, like trees in a regular garden.
About human manifestations
A description of a man's daily exercises is the truest picture of his heart.
We look through a microscope at every trouble, and shout that the world is filled with disasters.
Both love and hatred are rarely satisfied with the truth: the former in praise, the latter in condemnation.
Courage is a great quality of the soul; the people marked by it should be proud of themselves.
Shyness is the secret of innocence and virtue.
Sincerity is stronger than the most eloquent assurances of friendship.
Perhaps we would forget our souls if tears never fell from our eyes.
The passion of tender, meek souls oppressed by fate. Happiness to the unfortunate and sweetness to the sorrowful! O Melancholy! You are dearer to them than all artificial amusements and frivolous pleasures.
People who are prone to sincere trust also easily believe slander.
Cold people are generally great egoists. The mind acts in them more than the heart; the mind always turns to its own benefit, like a magnet to the north.
About history
History, in a sense, is the sacred book of peoples: the main, necessary; a mirror of their existence and activity; the tablet of revelations and rules; the covenant of ancestors to posterity; addition, explanation of the present and example of the future.
History is more vindictive than people.
History is not a novel, and the world is not a garden where everything should be pleasant: it depicts the world.
Both Natural and Civil History does not tolerate fiction, depicting what is or was, and not what could be. But History, they say, is filled with lies: let’s say better that in it, as in human affairs, there is an admixture of lies, but the character of truth is always more or less preserved; and this is enough for us to form a general concept of people and actions.
The historian is not a Chronicler: the latter looks only at time, and the former at the nature and connection of actions: he may make a mistake in the distribution of places, but must indicate his place to everything.
You don’t need to be Russian: you just need to think in order to read with curiosity the traditions of the people who, with courage and courage, gained dominance over a ninth part of the world, discovered countries hitherto unknown to anyone, introducing them into the general system of Geography and History.
Human wisdom needs experience, and life is short-lived. One must know how from time immemorial rebellious passions agitated civil society and in what ways the beneficial power of the mind curbed their stormy desire to establish order, harmonize the benefits of people and give them the happiness possible on earth.
The properties of a people are always explained by circumstances, but the effect is often longer lasting than the cause.
About love
The fulfillment of all desires is the most dangerous temptation of love.
There is no time limit for affection: you can always love as long as your heart is alive.
Where there is no love, there is no soul.
Love is stronger than all, holiest of all, most unspeakable.
The pleasures of love are countless; neither the tyranny of parents, nor the tyranny of fate itself can take them away from a tender heart - and to whom these pleasures are unknown, do not call yourself sensitive.
True love can enjoy without sensual pleasures, even when its object is hidden behind distant seas.
Lovers can never get enough of each other, just as a greedy covetous man can never get enough of gold.
In the bloom of ardent, young years I enjoyed tender passion; But ah! the lovely flower, which my gaze admired, has faded! There was an emptiness in my heart, And I said: “Love is a dream!”
By the way, quotes about love
About life ethics
The main thing is not to receive, but to deserve.
Honor should be the main reward!
Don't stop others from thinking differently.
There is little difference between petty and so-called important activities; one inner impulse and feeling is important. Do what and how you can, just love good, and what is good - ask your conscience.
Mental disorder is always a consequence of bodily disorder.
Strictness in trifles reduces the desire for business.
He who does not respect himself will, without a doubt, be respected by others. In the face of the hardships of the present, one must be consoled by the thought that there were more difficult times, and even those have passed.
To instill disgust for evil is to instill love for virtue.
It must show the errors of the human mind with noble fervor, but without malice.
The main thing is to be people, not Slavs. What is good for people cannot be bad for Russians; and what the English or Germans invented for the benefit, the benefit of man, is mine, for I am a man!
About life
Our life is divided into two eras: we spend the first in the future, and the second in the past.
Life is a deception - happy is the one who is deceived in the most pleasant way.
There is nothing new under the sun: What is, that was, will forever be. And before, blood flowed like a river, And before, man cried, And before, he was a victim of fate, Hope, weakness, vice.
The most intolerable thing to live in the world is useless.
Like the fruit of a tree, life is sweetest just before it begins to fade.
The hope of replacing a loss makes it easier in youth, but summer takes away this consolation from us.
I’m sixty years old in the world, and I still can’t get enough of the works of the Lord, I can’t get enough of the clear sky, which looks like a high tent, and the earth, which is covered with new grass and new flowers every year.
By the way, quotes about life
About patriotism
Patriotism should not blind us; love for the fatherland is an action of clear reason, and not blind passion.
He who does not respect himself will, without a doubt, be respected by others. I’m not saying that love for the Fatherland should blind us and convince us that we are better than everyone and in everything. But a Russian must know his worth.
Love for our own good produces in us love for the fatherland, and personal pride produces national pride, which serves as the support of patriotism.
Death for the fatherland is not scary.
I do not believe in that love for the fatherland that despises its chronicles or does not engage with them: you need to know what you love; and in order to know the present, one must have information about the past.
In order to find out all our attachment to our fatherland, we need to leave it; To know all the love we have for our friends, we must part with them.
About art
I am sure that a bad person cannot be a good author.
Aesthetics is the science of taste.
Every true talent, paying tribute to the century, also creates for eternity.
He who loves the muses and is loved by them will not be idle in solitude and will always find something pleasant to do. He carries within himself a source of pleasure, his creative power, which makes him happy.
Handling books prepares you for handling people. Both are equally necessary.
By the way, quotes about art
About women
A married woman must either find happiness at home or generously refuse it.
Pride, love of glory, heroic virtue are the properties of a great husband: a weak wife can be strong through love alone, but, feeling heavenly inspiration in her heart, she can surpass the greatest husbands in generosity and say to fate: “I am not afraid of you!”
A woman’s soft heart always takes on our image, and if we loved virtue in general, then lovely beauties would become virtuous out of coquetry.
I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!
By the way, quotes about women
About Russia
If you wanted to express in one word what is happening in Russia, then you should say: they steal.
Russia must first of all be great, and in the form it has now, only an autocrat can keep it formidable and strong.
We have become citizens of the world, but have ceased to be, in some cases, citizens of Russia.
Who among us does not love those times when Russians were Russians, when they dressed up in their own clothes, walked with their own gait, lived according to their own customs, spoke in their own language and according to their own hearts, that is, they spoke as they thought?
About the reforms of Peter I
Peter did not want to delve into the truth that the spirit of the people constitutes the moral power of states. This spirit is nothing more than affection for what is special to us, nothing more than respect for our national dignity.
I feel Petrov’s great deeds and think: “Happy are our ancestors who witnessed them!” However, I don’t envy their happiness!
Is it prudent to search for what has been found? Would it have been better for the Russians not to build ships, not to form a regular army, not to establish academies, factories, so that all this was not invented by the Russians? What people have not adopted from another? And shouldn't one equal in order to surpass? (by the way, quotes from Peter I)
Oh happiness
Happiness is a matter of fate, mind and character.
Happy is he who is independent, but how difficult it is to be happy, that is, independent.
We see a shadow of happiness in the dreams of earthly light; There is happiness somewhere: there is no shadow without an object.
There is a way to be happy in life: to be useful to the world and especially to the Fatherland.
By the way, quotes about happiness
About the law
In the old days they said that law and freedom live like cats and dogs. Every law is bondage.
The only saving statutes are those that the best minds in the state have long desired and which, so to speak, are anticipated by the people.
The legislator must look at things from different sides, and not from one; otherwise, by stopping evil, he can do even more evil.
About the revolution
All violent upheavals are disastrous, and every rebel prepares a scaffold for himself.
The people are sharp iron, which is dangerous to play with, and the revolution is an open coffin for virtue and villainy itself.
The French Revolution is one of those events that determine the destinies of people for many centuries to come. A new era begins: I see it.
About education
Nature alone creates and gives: education only forms. Nature alone sows: art or instruction only waters the seed so that it blossoms better and more perfectly.
It is good and should be studied; but woe to both the man and the people who will be an everlasting disciple.
Without good fathers there is no good education, despite all the schools.
About smart and stupid
Blessed is not the one who is smarter than everyone else, but the one who, being a fool, considers himself a wise man.
Light minds think that everything is easy, wise ones know the danger of any change and live quietly.
A mind without knowledge is a seat.
About the light
The world has long been called a stormy ocean, but happy is he who sails with a compass.
This is how it goes in this world: one person is good, another is bad, and people get rich at the expense of the poor. Should I step into the political light? Freedom for loudmouths and stupid smart people; no bad thing for rogues.
Secular ladies, being always on stage, get used to thinking only about theatrical virtues.
About passions
Passion, passion! No matter how cruel you are, no matter how detrimental to our peace, without you there is nothing lovely in the world; without you, our life is fresh water, and man is a doll; without you there is neither a touching story nor an entertaining novel.
The soul, too sensitive to the pleasures of the passions, also feels strongly their troubles: heaven and hell for it are in the neighborhood; Delight is followed by either despair or melancholy, which so often opens the door to the madhouse.
About marriage
To be the happiest spouse, To be loved and to love, To be a lover and friend... Ah! I'm glad to live in the world!
It is a rare single person who will not sigh when he sees the beauty and happiness of children, the modesty and good behavior of women.
By the way, quotes about weddings and marriage
About travel
Travel is nourishing for our spirit and heart. Travel, hypochondriac, to heal from your hypochondria! Travel, misanthrope, to love humanity! Travel whoever you can!
It is pleasant and fun, my friends, to move from one land to another, to see new objects with which, it seems, our very soul is renewed, and to feel the invaluable freedom of man, by which he can truly be called the king of earthly creation.
By the way, quotes about travel
About solitude
Solitude is like those people with whom it is good and pleasant to see occasionally, but with whom living is always painful for both the mind and the heart.
Solitude is pleasant when it is rest, but incessant solitude is the path to insignificance, for man in himself is a fragment or fragment: only with creatures and nature similar to him does he form a whole.
About friendship
The most indissoluble friendship is the one that begins in youth - inseparable and most pleasant.
The way to get bored with people is to be with them incessantly; The way to actively enjoy their company is to see them occasionally.
By the way, quotes about friendship
About talents
True talents do not go unrewarded: there is an audience, there is posterity.
Excellent minds are the true heroes of history.
About words
Words are not invented by academies; they are born along with thoughts.
Words belong to the century, and thoughts belong to the centuries.
By the way, quotes about speech and words
About miscellaneous
Time is just the sequence of our thoughts.
God is a great musician, the universe is a superb harpsichord, we are but humble keys. Angels while away eternity, enjoying this divine concert, which is called chance, inevitability, blind fate.
It’s really not a sin to laugh at everything that seems funny.
The only one who can be free is the one who does not need to put strangers in his hands to fulfill his will.
Nothing great is done for money.
The heartfelt pleasure produced by music forces people to express it with various body movements: dancing is born, the favorite pastime of the most savage peoples.
Youth is a wonderful era of our existence! The heart is in the fullness of life, creating for itself a future that is dear to it; everything seems possible, everything is close. Love and glory, two idols of sensual souls, stand behind the veil in front of them and raise their hand to shower us with their gifts. The heart beats in delightful anticipation, gets lost in desires, in the choice of happiness and enjoys the possible even more than the actual.
As we can see, Karamzin managed to speak out on a very wide range of issues . Apparently, the difficulty with understanding him was and still is that he does not fit into any specific type: he is an atypical guardian of autocracy, an atypical liberal, an atypical “lover of gray hair,” an atypical connoisseur of Europe, etc. d. Although all this is atypically contained in him.
Quotes about Karamzin
- A. Pushkin: In his “History” there is elegance, simplicity
- They prove to us, without any bias,
- The need for autocracy
- And the delights of the whip. (by the way, quotes from Alexander Pushkin)
Next, you can move on to other collections of quotes:
- Lomonosov quotes
- Derzhavin quotes
- Zhukovsky quotes
- Dahl quotes
- quotes from "Woe from Wit"
- Voltaire quotes
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Notes
Famous sayings of Karamzin | 04/23/2013 at 19:01
Karamzin went down in history as a great reformer of the Russian language. His style is light in the Gallic manner, but instead of direct borrowing, Karamzin enriched the language with calque words, such as “impression” and “influence,” “touching” and “entertaining.” It was he who introduced into use the words “industry”, “concentrate”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “era”, “scene”, “harmony”, “catastrophe”, “future”.
Famous sayings of Karamzin
“The world has long been called a stormy ocean, but happy is he who sails with a compass.”
“We are all like a fly on a cart: we put on airs and, in our innocence, consider ourselves to be the culprits of great incidents.”
“Let’s lose ourselves in the magic of red fiction for a moment.”
“The people are sharp iron, with which it is dangerous to play, and the revolution is an open coffin for virtue and villainy itself.”
— There is little difference between petty and so-called important activities; one inner urge and feeling is important. Do what and how you can: just love what is good, and what is good, ask your conscience.
- The sage who knew people, Said that the world is a lie: We are all, my friend, liars, Simple people, sages; The truth for us is covered with an impenetrable fog.
— Courage is a great quality of the soul; the people marked by it should be proud of themselves.
“We are forever what we are destined to be in the world.” Drive nature through the door: it will fly into the window.
“I don’t stop others from thinking differently.”
- Nothing is new under the sun: What is, that was, will forever be. And before, blood flowed like a river, And before, a man cried.
- Justification of certain cruelties, constant kindness of heart are incompatible with greatness of spirit. Great people see only the general.
“Love is the strongest, the holiest, the most unspeakable.”
“Like the fruit of a tree, life is sweetest just before it begins to fade.”
“For us, Russians with a soul, one Russia is original, one Russia truly exists; everything else is only an attitude towards it, a thought, Providence. We can think and dream in Germany, France, Italy, but we can only do business in Russia.
- In enlightenment alone we will find a saving antidote for all the disasters of mankind!
— The Creator is always depicted in creations, often against his will.
- You want to be an author: read the history of the misfortunes of the human race - and if your heart does not bleed, then leave the pen, or it will depict to us the cold gloom of your soul.
— The French Revolution is one of those events that determine the destinies of people for many centuries to come. A new era begins: I see it.
— The sun flows now according to the same laws that it flowed before the appearance of Christ the Savior: and civil societies have not changed their statutes; everything remains as it was on Earth and it cannot be otherwise.
- Happy is he who is independent, but how difficult it is to be happy, that is, independent.
“This is how it goes in this world: one person is good, another is bad, and people get rich at the expense of the poor.” Should I step into the political light? Freedom for loudmouths and stupid smart people; no bad thing for rogues.
— The talent of great souls is to recognize the great in other people.
- It’s really not a sin to laugh at everything that seems funny.
- Words belong to the century, and thoughts to the centuries. - I despise hasty liberalists: I love only that freedom, which no tyrant will take from me.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (December 1 [12] 1766, Znamenskoye, Simbirsk province (or the village of Mikhailovka (Preobrazhenka), Orenburg province) Russian Empire - May 22 [June 3] 1826, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire) - historian, major Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed the “Russian Stern”. Wikipedia.
If you were to answer the question in one word: what is happening in Russia, you would have to say: THEY STEAL. 1766−1826
Always and everywhere, the first and main dignity of a woman was modesty.
THE STRANGEness OF LOVE, OR INSOMNIA
Who is the most terrible for the heart? Who is the cutest in the world? I know: my dear!
“Who is your dear?” - I'm ashamed; It really hurts me to open up the strangeness of my feelings and be the subject of jokes. The heart is not free to choose. What to say? She... she... Ah! is not at all important and does not have any talents behind him; Does not shine with sharpness, ... show full text ...
Words belong to the century, and thoughts belong to the centuries.
In the delights of Bacchus we are knee-deep in the sea, And with a glass in hand we are all heroes.
"Knight of Our Time"
LILEA.
I see a lily there. Oh! how white she is, how beautiful and sweet she is! My soul was captivated by her. I want to pick it, hold it in my hands and kiss it; I want to, but fate separates me from the lily: Ah! the abyss gapes between us. Melancholy torments my chest; I stand sadly, shedding tears. I look from afar at a tender lily - It seems to have been created to be mine, And a quiet breeze bends its stem towards me... show full text...
Do what and how you can: just love what is good, and what is good - ask your conscience.
TO MERCY
What could be holier than you, O Grace, daughter of the good heavens? What is more beautiful in the world, what is sweeter? Who can, without heartfelt tears, Without joy and admiration, Without excitement sweet in the blood, Look at your charms? What night is not illuminated by your sunny eyes? What rebellion cannot be tamed with just your smile? You speak and the thunders become numb; Where you step, the flowers turn red and grace flows from the sky. ...show full text...
“I loved to be sad, not knowing what...”
Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Simbirsk province. He grew up in the village of his father, a hereditary nobleman. It is interesting that the Karamzin family has Turkic roots and comes from the Tatar Kara-Murza (aristocratic class).
Little is known about the writer’s childhood. At the age of 12, he was sent to Moscow to the boarding school of Moscow University professor Johann Schaden, where the young man received his first education and studied German and French. Three years later, he begins to attend lectures by the famous professor of aesthetics, educator Ivan Schwartz at Moscow University.
In 1783, at the insistence of his father, Karamzin enlisted in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, but soon retired and left for his native Simbirsk. An important event for young Karamzin takes place in Simbirsk - he joins the Masonic lodge of the Golden Crown. This decision will play its role a little later, when Karamzin returns to Moscow and meets with an old acquaintance of their home - the freemason Ivan Turgenev, as well as writers and writers Nikolai Novikov, Alexei Kutuzov, Alexander Petrov. At the same time, Karamzin’s first attempts in literature began - he participated in the publication of the first Russian magazine for children - “Children’s Reading for the Heart and Mind.” The four years he spent in the society of Moscow Freemasons had a serious influence on his creative development. At this time, Karamzin read a lot of then popular Rousseau, Stern, Herder, Shakespeare, and tried to translate.
“In Novikov’s circle, Karamzin’s education began, not only as an author, but also as a moral one.”
Writer I.I. Dmitriev
