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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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.