Sergei Dovlatov: If you start to think, you will not want to live
Famous Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov would turn 75 today. The legacy he left excludes any talk about him in the past tense. We want to share with you some of his best known quotes and sayings. Just do not think, that is all. I have not thought for 15 years. If all of a sudden you start to think, you will not want to live. Everyone who thinks is unhappy… The opposite of love is not indifference and disgust, it is lie Women do not like those who ask. They humiliate those who ask. Therefore, do not ask. Take what you can. If you cannot, then pretend to be indifferent. Debt is the only bond that really connects you to other people. Talent is like lust. It is hard to hide and even more difficult to pretend. A decent person is a person who does bad things without pleasure. As you know, there is no equality in marriage. The advantage is always on the side of the one who loves less. If this can be considered an advantage. Do not ask God for additives. A selfless lie is not a lie, it is poetry. ... Man is used to ask himself: “Who am I?” There's a scientist, a chauffeur, a Jew, an immigrant… And we ought to ask ourselves all the time: Am I not shit? ... I prefer to be alone, but next to someone. Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something. It is madness to live with a man who does not go away just because he is lazy. Man is to man—how shall I put it best?—a tabula rasa. To put it another way—anything you please, depending on the conjunction of circumstances.
