Also, though not over-elderly, he was not over-young.
— Dead Souls
Nikolai Gogol was a Russian novelist, short story writer and playwright of Ukrainian origin. His early stories, such as those in Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, drew on the folklore of the Ukraine where he grew up.
He is remembered for his use of the grotesque in stories like "The Nose" and "The Overcoat", and for the satire of corruption in his play The Government Inspector and his novel Dead Souls. Dostoevsky, Kafka, Bulgakov and Nabokov were among the writers who acknowledged his influence, and a famous remark has it that Russian writers all came out from under Gogol's "Overcoat".
He is remembered for his use of the grotesque in stories like "The Nose" and "The Overcoat", and for the satire of corruption in his play The Government Inspector and his novel Dead Souls. Dostoevsky, Kafka, Bulgakov and Nabokov were among the writers who acknowledged his influence, and a famous remark has it that Russian writers all came out from under Gogol's "Overcoat".
Most quoted works
- The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol 10
- Dead Souls 7
- Diary of a Madman and Other Stories 3
I've long suspected dogs of being much smarter than people; I was even certain they could speak, but there was only some kind of stubbornness in them. They're extraordinary politicians: they notice every human step.
— The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
A word aptly uttered or written cannot be cut away by an axe.
— Dead Souls
He was no stranger to compassion: his heart was open to many good impulses, though his rank often prevented their manifestation.
— The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
April 43rd 2000Today is the day of great triumph. There is a king of Spain. He has been found at last. That king is me. I only discovered this today. Frankly, it all came to me in a flash.
— Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
The human feelings, which had never been very deep in him, grew shallower every hour, and every day something more dropped away from the decrepit wreck.
— Dead Souls
This gentleman evidently belonged to the category of those people who wish the Government to interfere in everything, even in their daily quarrels with their wives.
— The Nose
Woman is in love with the devil.
— Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
You see, wisdom does not come with grey hairs.
— Dead Souls
Do we ever get what we really want? Do we ever achieve what our powers have ostensibly equipped us for? No: everything works by contraries.
— Diary of a Madman and Other Stories