Page 357 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

love,’ he said, taking Levin’s question his own way. ‘What
am I to do? I’m made that way. And really, one does so
little harm to anyone, and gives oneself so much pleasure..’
‘What! is there something new, then?’ queried Levin.

‘Yes, my boy, there is! There, do you see, you know
the type of Ossian’s women.... Women, such as one sees
in dreams.... Well, these women are sometimes to be met
in reality...and these women are terrible. Woman, don’t
you know, is such a subject that however much you study
it, it’s always perfectly new.’
‘Well, then, it would be better not to study it.’
‘No. Some mathematician has said that enjoyment lies
in the search for truth, not in the finding it.’
Levin listened in silence, and in spite of all the efforts
he made, he could not in the least enter into the feelings
of his friend and understand his sentiments and the charm
of studying such women.

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