“Own people – we will count”, “Poverty is not a vice”, “Profitable place”, “Thunderstorm”, “Enough simplicity for every wise man”, “Forest”, “Snow Maiden”, “Wolves and sheep”, “Dowry”, “Without guilty guilt.”
These and many other of his plays are recognized as classics of drama and have not left the stages of all Russian theaters without exception for a century and a half, and their author is rightfully considered the founder of the Russian theater school, whose ideas were finally brought to life by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Mikhail Bulgakov.
On April 12, the literary and theatrical world celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian playwright Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky.
Fragment of a portrait of Alexander Ostrovsky by Vasily Perov, 1871
Alexander Ostrovsky was born on March 31 (April 12), 1823, in the Moscow family of a judicial lawyer, who later received a title of nobility. He died on June 2 (14), 1886 in his estate Shchelykovo, Kostroma province, at the age of 63, leaving a creative legacy of more than 50 plays, many of which by that time were successfully staged on the stages of the Maly Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg .
We traditionally celebrate anniversaries of writers, playwrights and poets by publishing quotes from their works. Today, these are the phrases of the heroes of the immortal plays by Alexander Ostrovsky, which do not lose their topicality, despite their more than advanced age.
And the first man did not pass over sin, and the last one does not pass over. Sin is sweet, but man is greedy.
I want to reserve for myself the precious right to look everyone straight in the eye, without shame, without secret remorse, to read and watch satires and comedies on bribe-takers, and to laugh from the bottom of my heart, with frank laughter.
It used to be that summer or winter dragged on and on, you can’t wait until it ends; and now you will not see how they fly by. The days and hours seem to be the same; while time, for our sins, is getting shorter and shorter.
If I were a king, I would make such a law that the rich man married the poor, and the poor married the rich; and whoever does not obey, the death penalty.
Shut up if you can’t do anything better.
How women are uniform in all their diversity.
We do not have public opinion, my friend, and cannot be, in the sense in which you understand. Here is public opinion for you: if you are not caught, you are not a thief.
There used to be a lot of suitors, and there were enough for homeless women; and now the grooms are just short: how many dowries, so many suitors, there are no superfluous ones – the dowry women are lacking.
A woman’s heart is soft. It is soft, it is soft, but after all, there is nothing more angry than a woman in the world, if you offend her sensitively. It becomes scary. A woman will take revenge terribly, she can come up with such vile things that a man would never even think of.
It has become difficult to live: pay money for everything.
How much are you getting paid for your work?
– One hundred and twenty rubles.
– This, in our opinion, means: in one pocket it gets dark, and in the other the dawn breaks; in Tatar – yok, but in Russian – nothing.
If you are honest – do not hang out with the dishonest, do not rub yourself near the soot – you yourself will get dirty.
Corruption of morals at two ends: in ignorance and in excess of education; good morals in the middle.
A single man thinks about service, and a married man thinks about his wife. A married person is unreliable.
Perhaps you think, maman, that family happiness tempts me? I’m not a child anymore, I’m twenty-one years old. What a pastor! I just need money.
You have to laugh. I would myself, but no time.
Until you know a person, you believe him; and as you learn about his deeds, so according to his deeds and the price.
“That one has all cunning and flattery, and this one suddenly, for no reason at all, will say that it is not necessary.
– That is the truth?
What kind of light is this! Everyone gets stuffed with instruction, but no one gives money.
It is sinful to be evil, and stupid to be good! How to live after this?
And crocodiles cry, but still they swallow a whole calf.
Alien soul of darkness.
We are sinful people; We even go to church to see people and show ourselves off.
What goes out to people? Not all deeds, more often conversation.
Shame, after all, is very necessary only in ordinary life, otherwise it is not very important: as something more serious, it does not exist.
Yes, we are going somewhere, they are leading us somewhere; but neither we know where, nor those who lead us. And how will it all end?
