Augustine Aurelius Augustinus

Leo Tolstoy Лев Толстой

July 7, 1854 · Russian Empire · At twenty-five, serving in the army

I am ugly, awkward, untidy and socially uneducated. I am irritable, boring to others, immodest, intolerant and bashful as a child. I am almost an ignoramus.

Я дурен собой, неловок, нечистоплотен и светски необразован. — Я раздражителен, скучен для других, нескромен, нетерпим (intolérant) и стыдлив, как ребенок. — Я почти невежда.

Diary, in the Complete Works of Tolstoy, vol. 47

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Natsume Soseki 夏目漱石

1906 · Meiji–Taisho Japan · He goes on to explain: a classmate had jeered that for all his big talk he would never dare jump from there

Thanks to a recklessness inherited from my parents, I have been losing out ever since I was a child. In primary school I once jumped from the second floor of the school and could not stand up straight for a week.

親譲りの無鉄砲で小供の時から損ばかりしている。小学校に居る時分学校の二階から飛び降りて一週間ほど腰を抜かした事がある。

Botchan, the opening

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Oscar Wilde

1892 · Ireland · Britain

I can resist everything except temptation.

Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 1, spoken by Lord Darlington

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Ishikawa Takuboku 石川啄木

c. 1911 · Meiji Japan

"I believe a new tomorrow is coming." In those words of mine there is no lie, and yet...

新しき明日の来るを信ずといふ 自分の言葉に 嘘はなけれど

Tanka collection Sad Toys (Kanashiki gangu)

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Leo Tolstoy Лев Толстой

March 24, 1847 · Russian Empire · At eighteen, in the first month of his diary, begun in a university clinic

I have changed a great deal, but I still have not reached the degree of perfection (in my studies) that I would like to reach. I do not carry out what I prescribe for myself.

Я много переменился; но все еще не достиг той степени совершенства (в занятиях), которого бы мне хотелось достигнуть. — Я не исполняю того, чтò себе предписываю

Diary, in the Complete Works of Tolstoy, vol. 46

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