Classics and the Bible Sunday

Dear Friend,

I have a new post up at my Classics & the Bible blog.  Still working my way through the many biblical references in Anna Karenina.Today I'm exploring some illustrations by French artist Gustave Dore.

Gustave Dore

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Love,

Adriana

P.S. My cast is off but I still can't put weight on my foot for several more days. Physical therapy is going well.

Classics and the Bible Sunday

Dear Friend,

It feels like a good time to revive my "Classics & the Bible" blog with a new post. I've written about a biblical reference which is tossed out with sarcasm by Stephan Arkadyevich to Konstantin Levin as they ride in a carriage through Moscow on their way to visit Anna Karenina. Unpacking three short words was quite an interesting experience! You can read the post here.

Also, I recently wrote another guest piece for my friend Tim Fall's blog -- "Racial Reconcilation: One Ordination Day at a Time."

Out of all the preachers I greeted that day, there was one face which stood out above the rest. I remember him as taller than everyone else, but maybe he only appeared to be. He was gray and distinguished, certainly the oldest man in attendance. I placed my young white hand in his ancient brown one, a small dove in a large nest. His eyes were tender like the eyes of Christ. I felt as if he saw into me. Under the weight of his gaze my eyes moistened.

Hope your Sunday is worshipful and restful.

Blessings!

Adriana

Friday Quote: A New Delicious Bliss

...alone with [Kitty] he felt, now that the thought of her approaching motherhood was never for a moment absent from his mind, a new and delicious bliss, quite pure from sensuality, in being near the woman he loved. There was no need for speech, yet he longed to hear the sound of her voice, which like her eyes, had changed since she had  been with child. In her voice, as in her eyes, there was that softness and gravity which is found in people continually concentrated on some cherished pursuit. 

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (Part VI, Chapter 3)

Blink: Facial Expressions in Literature and Life

Perhaps the most common -- and most important -- forms of rapid cognition are the judgments we make and the impressions we form of other people. Every waking minute that we are in the presence of someone, we come up with a constant stream of predictions and inferences about what that person is thinking and feeling. 

When someone says, "I love you," we look into that person's eyes to judge his or her sincerity. When we meet someone new, we often pick up on subtle signals, so that afterward, even though he or she may have talked in a normal and friendly manner, we may say, "I don't think he liked me," or "I don't think she's very happy." 

We easily parse complex distinctions in facial expression. If you were to see me grinning, for example, with my eyes twinkling, you'd say I was amused. But if you were to see me nod and smile exaggeratedly, with the corners of my lips tightened, you would take it that I had been teased and was responding sarcastically. If I were to make eye contact with someone, give a small smile, and then look down and avert my gaze, you would think I was flirting.

If I were to follow a remark with a quick smile and then nod or tilt my head sideways, you might conclude that I just said something a little harsh and wanted to take the edge off it. 

 

You wouldn't need to hear anything I was saying in order to reach these conclusions. They would just come to you, blink.

Excerpt from Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

We all read faces by nature with varying degrees of perception -- even my baby seeks out my eyes when I speak to her -- but I believe the authors of the classics were uniquely attentive to facial expressions and body language.  Long before Lie to Me, long before Dr. Paul Ekman's research findings and co-discovery of micro-expressions, writers of the world's greatest literature were expertly unpacking the human face.

In respect of character a face may make certain admissions by its outline; but it fully confesses only in its changes. So much is this the case that what is called the play of the features often helps more in understanding a man or woman than the earnest labors of all the others members together.

~ The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

Sometimes a flash of expression merely adds depth to characterization. In The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, Caspar Goodwood did not have to tell Henrietta Stackpole in words that he was desperate to meet Isabel Archer in England.

"Did he ask you to speak to me?"

"Not in so many words. But his eyes asked it -- and his handshake, when he bade me good-bye."

~ The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

It can mean more than what a character actually says in dialogue. Sometimes what is written on a character's face even contradicts what he says.

...[Anna] was not listening to [Vronsky's] words, she was reading his thoughts from the expression of his face. 

~ Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Often what flashes across a character's face is critical to the plot. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov is burdened with attempting to conceal his guilt from Porfiry Petrovich, the magistrate in charge of investigating the murder of an elderly pawn broker and her sister.

Porfiry Petrovich suddenly looked at [Raskolnikov] with obvious mockery, narrowing his eyes and as if winking at him. However, perhaps it only seemed so to Raskolnikov, because it lasted no more than an instant. There was something of the sort, at least. Raskolnikov would have sworn to God that he winked at him, devil knew why."He knows!" flashed in him like lightening. 

~ Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

In The Portrait of a Lady, Isabel comes upon her husband, Gilbert Osmond engaged in a conversation with their mutual friend, Madame Merle. 

...the thing made an image, lasting only a moment, like a sudden flicker of light. Their relative position, their absorbed mutual gaze struck her as something detected. But it was all over by the time she had fairly seen it.

~The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Indeed, body language ultimately reveals all.

"Dost thou know child, wherefore thy mother wears this letter?""Truly I do!" answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mother's face. "It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart!" 

~ The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Your poor lip is twitching again, like the other day," Porfiry Pertrovich muttered, even as if sympathetically. 

~ Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

And of course it is especially effective in a love scene.

Yeobright and Eustacia looked at each other for one instant, as if each had in mind those few moments during which a certain moonlit scene was common to both.

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

The moment had arrived when [Eustacia's] lip would tremble in spite of herself, and when the gasp could no longer be kept down. 

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

At the very instant when the apparition was vanishing, [Kitty's] truthful eyes glanced at [Levin]. She recognized him, and her face lighted up with amazed delight.

~ Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Did I mention it is effective in a love scene? Oh yes. 

Here is Kitty and Levin's love scene:

. . . swift, swift light steps sounded on the parquet, and his bliss, his life, himself -- what was best in himself, what he had so long sought and longed for -- was quickly, so quickly approaching him. She did not walk but seemed, by some unseen force, to float to him. He saw nothing but her clear, truthful eyes, frightened by the same bliss of love that flooded his heart. Those eyes were shining nearer and nearer, blinding him with their light of love. She stopped close to him, touching him. Her hands rose and dropped on his shoulders. She had done all she could -- she had run up to him and given herself up entirely, shyly, blissfully. He put his arms around her and pressed his lips to her mouth that sought his kiss.  

~ Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I have collected literally hundreds of examples of blink from my reading. It was difficult to choose which ones to share with you for this post. I hope these quotes will inspire you to be more attentive to facial expressions and body language in both literature and life.

Blush: The Grand Finale

via

While reading Anna Karenina for the first time a couple months ago, I was struck by the number of instances in which Tolstoy's characters were depicted as "blushing," "flushing," "reddening," or "crimsoning." Somewhere around page 60, I flipped to the back of the book and started keeping a list on the inside cover. I labeled it, "BLUSH."  

From what I've noticed so far from reading 19th century literature, most main characters typically blush at some point, even several times, but Anna Karenina is a novel in which blushing positively abounds. In my first reading I gleaned 95 instances out of 923 pages.*

I wonder if people blush less now than they did in the 19th century. Are we more brazen today? Has the degree of modesty which was depicted in Anna Karenina become completely archaic?

Perhaps what we might consider an excessive display of conscience could be attributed to the Russian Orthodox culture in which the novel is placed. It's easy to imagine how a collective consciousness nurtured in the bosom of the Church could produce an overarching delicacy and reverence which most modern readers would be unaccustomed to.

But what exactly does it mean when a person blushes? Some of the instances of reddening which I included in my list had nothing to do with a sense of shame. For example, Levin flushed after ice skating, Kitty was flushed and radiant after childbirth, and Vronsky reddened with vexation. However, most instances of blushing were incited by a breach of conscience or by embarrassment.

Prof. Ray Crozier of Cardiff University states,

...when we feel shame we communicate our emotion to others and in doing so we send an important signal to them. [Blushing] tells them something about us. It shows that we are ashamed or embarrassed, that we recognize that something is out of place. It shows that we are sorry about this. It shows that we want to put things right. To blush at innuendo is to show awareness of its implications and to display modesty that conveys that you are not brazen or shameless.

With this in mind I started looking closely for instances of blushing in real life. Here is what I observed last month:

A middle aged man in the check out line at my local craft supply store placed a cartload of coarsely themed placards on the counter before an attractive young cashier. As he did so, he blushed.

A baby sitter we hired for our Bible study dove across my kitchen to catch a toddler escapee. As she ushered him back to the play room, she blushed.

Yesterday I thought my son may have overheard something of an intimate nature which my husband spoke to me. (Thankfully, my son did not!) As I shushed my husband, I blushed.

That's it. Three times in a month. But you can believe I'm still on the lookout! Blushing fascinates me. While reading Anna Karenina, it was my obsession. 

The list I've included below is rather long -- I certainly don't expect you to read the entire thing! Scroll through it at your leisure.

*****************************************************************

The following is the complete list of all the quotes I gathered from my first reading of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina which I labeled, "BLUSH": 

p. 12 The little girl knew that there was a quarrel between her father and mother . . . and that [her father] was pretending when he asked her about it so lightly. And she blushed for her father. He at once perceived it, and blushed too.

p.24 Levin suddenly blushed, not as grown men blush, slightly, without being themselves aware of it, but  as boys blush, feeling that they are ridiculous in their shyness, and consequently ashamed of it and blushing still more, almost to the point of tears. And it was so strange to see this sensible, manly face in such a childish plight that Oblonsky stopped looking at him.

p.39 Catching sight of Kitty going away, and her mother meeting her at the steps, Levin, flushed from his rapid exercise, stood still and pondered a minute.

p.57  [Levin] glanced at [Kitty]; she blushed, and ceased speaking.

p.61 "My words must make a deep impression on you since you remember them so well," said Levin, and suddenly conscious that he had said just the same thing before he reddened.

p.85 Anna had the faculty of blushing.

p.95 ...with rapid, short strokes [Kitty] fanned her burning face.

p. 136 When the doctor came in [Kitty] flushed crimson . . .

p. 209 [Vronsky] blushed, a thing that rarely happened to him.

p. 213 [Vronsky] would have run to [Anna], but remembering that there might be spectators, he looked around toward the balcony door, and reddened a little . . . 

p. 216 ...a hot flush came over [Anna's] face; her checks, her brow, her neck crimsoned, and tears of shame came into her eyes.

p. 235 Anna,  . . . flushed a little the instant her son came in . . . 

p. 236 "No, I don't . . . yes, I do," [Anna] said, not looking at [Karenin] and crimsoning to the roots of her hair.

p. 253 "Let's skip that," said Varenka, flushing a little.

p. 258 "No, I've not noticed it, Maman," said Kitty, flushing hotly.

p. 280 "But I still do not admit this movement to be just," said Konstantin Levin,reddening a little.

p. 306 "You know, Kitty's coming here, and is going to spend the summer with me." 

"Really," [Levin] said, flushing  . . .

           

p. 307 "Darya Aleksandrovna," [Levin] said, blushing up to the roots of his hair . . .

p. 329 A burning blush of shame spread over [Anna's] face.

p. 333 Again a flush of shame spread over [Anna's] face . . .

p. 344 "I do nothing," answered Anna, blushing at these searching questions."

p. 353 [Serpukhovskoy] hurriedly took three 100-ruble notes from his wallet, blushing a little.

p. 357 Vronsky opened the letter, and flushed crimson.

p. 362 [Vronsky] was confused, and reddened . . . 

p. 365 On seeing [Anna], Karenin began to rise, but changed his mind; then his faced flushed hotly -- a thing Anna had never seen before.

p. 376 It seemed to Levin that he had deceived someone, that he ought to explain something, but that to explain it was impossible, and for that reason he was continually blushing . . . 

p. 391 [Levin] felt that in not answering Darya Aleksandrovna's letter he had, by his rudeness, of which he could not think without a flush of shame, burned his ships . . . 

p. 415 "I meant, I only . . . " [Anna] said, flushing hotly. This coarseness of [Karenin's] angered her, and gave her courage.

p. 420 And on receiving an assenting nod from Karenin [the lawyer] went on, stealing a glance now and then at Karenin's face, which was growing red in patches.

p. 426 "Stiva! Stiva!" Dolly called, reddening.

p. 435 Kitty was looking at the door, calling up all her energies to keep from blushing at the entrance of Konstantin Levin.

p.436 "Have you a lot of people? Who's here?" asked Levin, unable to help blushing . . .

p 437 [Kitty] crimsoned, turned white, crimsoned again, and grew faint, waiting with quivering lips for [Levin] to come to her.

p. 446 [Kitty] felt that the impression she had made was very good. She blushed and laughed with delight...

p.454 Once or twice [Kitty] stole a look at [Levin], as though asking him, "Is this what I think?"
         "I understand," she said, flushing a little.

p.467 Karenin flung the telegram down, and, flushing a little, got up and began to pace up and down the room.

p.482 [Betsy] got up, but Anna, suddenly flushing, quickly seized her hand.
            "No, wait a minute, please. I must tell you . . . no, you." She turned to Karenin, and her neck and brow were suffused with crimson.

p.489 "I hope you believe in my love for my sister and my sincere affection and respect for you," [Olblonsky] said reddening.

p.491" Yes, I think divorce -- yes, divorce," Oblonsky repeated, reddening. " That is from every point of view the most rational course for married people who find themselves in the position you are in."

p.507 "You're mad!" [Kitty] cried, turning crimson with vexation.

p.511 "It's so stupid, what happened to me, I'm ashamed to speak of it!"[Levin] said,reddening . . ."

p.524 [Golenishchev] had never met Anna before, and was struck by her beauty, and still more by the frankness with which she accepted her position. She blushed when Vronsky brought in Golenishchev, and he was extremely charmed by this childish blush overspreading her candid and beautiful face."

p.525 . . . again a vivid flush overspread [Anna's] face.

p.554 "Yes, I'm writing the second part of the Two Principles," said Golenishcev, coloring with pleasure at the question . . .

pp. 557-558 Levin crimsoned both from shame and from anger with his wife, who had put herself and him in such a difficult position; but Marya Nikolaevna crimsoned still more. She positively shrank and flushed to the point of tears . . ."

p.583 [Countess Lydia Ivanovna] blushed with excitement when Karenin came into the room . . .

p.589 Countess Lydia Ivanovna, breathing hard and flushing crimson, put into Karenin's hands the letter she had received.

p.614 "Come and dine with me," said Anna resolutely, angry with herself for her embarrassment, but flushing as she always did when she defined her position before another person.

p.626 "Oh we shall be delighted," answered Varenka, coloring a little.

p.627 The rapidity of [Varenka's] movement, her flushed an eager face, everything betrayed that something out of the ordinary was going on in her.

p.628 Agafya Mikhailovna, her face flushed and angry, her hair untidy, and her thin arms bare to the elbows, was moving the preserving pan over the brazier with a circular motion, looking darkly at the raspberries and devoutly hoping they would stick and not cook properly.

p.631"That Vronsky paid you attentions -- that happens to every girl."
        "Oh, yes, but we didn't mean that," Kitty said, flushing a little.

p.637 [Sergey Ivanovich] looked straight into [Varenka's] face, and noticing the flush of joyful an alarmed excitement that overspread her face, he was confused . . .

p.640 Varenka's heart throbbed so that she heard it beating, and felt that she was turning red and pale and red again.

p. 641 Everything in the expression, the flushed cheeks and the downcast eyes of Varenka betrayed a painful suspense.

p. 648 "I? Why should I go? Kitty said, flushing all over, and she glanced around at her husband.
           "Do you know Anna Arkadyevna, then? Veslovsky asked her . . ."
           "Yes," she answered Veslovsky, crimsoning still more . . .
[Levin's] jealousy had in these few moments, especially at the flush that had overspread her cheeks while she was talking to Veslovsky, gone far indeed.

p.649 As Veslovsky said good night to his hostess, he leaned down to kiss her hand again, but Kitty, reddening, drew back her hand . . .

p.679 "No, it's impossible," [Levin] thought, glancing now and then at Veslovsky bending over Kitty, telling her something with his charming smile, and at her flushed and agitated.

p.680 " . . . shall I come too?" said Kitty, and she blushed.

p.693  Anna noticed Dolly's expression, and was disconcerted by it. She blushed, dropped her riding habit, and stumbled over it.

p.717  Once Darya Aleksandrovna felt wounded, and got so excited that she positively flushed ...

p.726  . . . a flush rose into [Anna's] face. She got up, straightened her chest, and sighed heavily.

p.740  Several people smiled. Levin crimsoned . . .

p.746  "Yes I quite remember our meeting," said Levin, and blushing crimson, he turned away immediately, and began talking to his brother.

p.756  . . . Anna, flushing hotly, got up . . .

p.761  . . . the blood rushed to [Kitty's] heart, and a vivid blush -- she felt it -- overspread her face.

p.761  Levin flushed a great deal more than [Kitty] when she told him she had met Vronsky at Princess Marya Borisovna's.

p.762  "I am blushing now much more, much more," [Kitty] said, blushing till the tears came into her eyes.

p.762   In spite of [Kitty's] blushing [Levin] was quickly reassured and began questioning her, which was all that she wanted.

p.767  "What I began precisely was to write a book on agriculture; but studying the chief instrument of agriculture, the laborer" said Levin, reddening, "I could not help coming to quite unexpected results."

p.787  Looking at himself in the mirror, Levin noticed that he was red in the face, but he felt certain that he was not drunk, and he followed Stephan Arkadyevich up the carpeted stairs.

p.789  Levin looked from the portrait to the original. A peculiar brilliance lighted up Anna's face when she felt his eyes on her. Levin flushed, and, to cover his embarrassment, was about to ask whether she had seen Darya Aleksandrovna lately; but at the moment Anna spoke.

p.793 "Tell your wife that I love her as before . . ." [said Anna]. "Certainly, yes, I will tell her . . . " Levin said, blushing.

p.795  Kitty took not the slightest interest in the discussing the drinking habits of the peasants. She saw that [Levin] blushed, and she wanted to know why . . .
          "Stiva strongly urged me to go and see Anna Arkadyevna"
          And as he said this, Levin blushed even more . . . 

p.800 [Kitty's] flushed face, fringed with soft curling hair escaping from under her nightcap, was radiant with joy and courage.

p.806 [Levin] saw the old princess too, flushed and overwrought, with her gray curls in disorder, forcing herself to gulp down her tears, biting her lips . . .

p.816  "Bolgarinov has fully assented as far as he's concerned," said Stephan Arkadyevich, turning red. Stepan Arkadyevich reddened at the mention of that name because he had called that morning on [Bolgarinov] and the visit had left an unpleasant impression.

p.817  Stephan Arkadyevich had made haste to forget it all as soon as possible. And now, at the mere recollection, he blushed.

p.821 [Seryosha] bowed to his uncle as to a stranger, but recognizing him, he blushed and turned hurriedly away from him, as though offended and irritated at something.

p.821 "Well and how are you getting on?" [Stephan Arkadyevich] said, wanting to talk to him and not knowing what to say.
          The boy, blushing and making no answer, cautiously drew his hand away.

p.822 [Seryosha] blushed crimson, and his face clouded over.

p.837 [Vronsky] had actually flushed with vexation, and had said something unpleasant.

p.839 [Vronsky's] embarrassment confirmed her suspicion. [Anna] flushed hotly and drew away from him.

p.844 "I said yesterday that it's absolutely nothing to me when I get, or whether I get, a divorce," she said, flushing crimson.

p.857 Gathering her courage, Kitty went in, walked up to [Anna], blushing, and shook hands.

p.858 "[Levin] has gone back to his own country," said Kitty, blushing.

p.887 "I do believe the laundress hasn't sent the washing yet, and all the best sheets are in use. If I don't see to it, Agafya Mikhailovna will give Sergey Ivanovich the wrong sheets," and at the very idea of this the blood rushed to Kitty's face.

p.914 Levin reddened with vexation, not at being defeated, but at having failed to control himself and being drawn into an argument.


* I counted 95 occasions. If I had counted the actually times the words "blushing", "flushing", "reddening", or "crimsoning" were used, the number would be greater.

Dear Friends, I made this for you today.

I'm in a general holiday bustle today. 

Busy, busy, busy!

But a little while ago, I stopped to think,

If I could give my readers one gift today, what would it be . . . hmm . . . yes, I know just the thing -- one of my favorite quotes from Anna Karenina!

I took a picture of some fabric out of my daughter's sewing kit for the background.

Hope you like it.

Love,

Adriana

Quest Notes

{My weekly Classical Quest status update}

A gift from my husband...just because.

✒ Finished Anna Karenina this past week -- and I loved it. Now I'm busy chipping away at the  final inquiry post. (Although it will still be a while before I finish all of my Anna Karenina themed posts.)

✒ I've been thinking more about establishing excellent habits since I wrote this post. I'm working on an "Excellent Habits" page to challenge myself to be more disciplined in various areas of life. Love this post -- "How to Cultivate the Habit of Focus...in an Age of Distraction", by Ann Voskamp.

✒ My heart and mind is turning toward Advent which begins Sunday, December 2nd. I was not raised with the Advent tradition. When my oldest kids were babies I brought home a wooden Advent calendar and chocked it full of treats. Of course the tradition stuck -- they wouldn't let me forget! However, with each passing year I find that the spiritual significance of Advent has struck a deeper chord in my heart. This year, I'm hoping for a tender spiritual event to strengthen my love for God and to increase our feeling of anticipation for the message of Christmas. I plan to memorize this passage over the coming weeks.

✒  Working on my own version of  "The Road to Bethlehem", inspired by Godly Play. This is a once a week (Sunday) activity so we'll definitely have time for another fun idea -- A Literary Countdown! 

✒ I saw this at The Modern Mrs. Darcy today: wrap one holiday book for each day of Advent and place them under the Christmas tree! I found seventeen books that will work on my bookshelf. A trip to the public library should easily get us to twenty-five! A couple of our chapter books like A Year Down Yonder and Little House in the Big Woods have excellent Christmas chapters which could be read as excerpts.

✒ "Blush: Part Two" should be up Wednesday. And yes, there will be a Blush: Part Three. I've counted eighty-one pages from Anna Karenina with the words "blushed", "flushed", "reddened", or "crimsoned" on them.

✒ Trying to avoid stores as much as possible this year! I'm thinking hard about what to buy online for each my five kids. I'm going for a "less is more" theme. I hope to find some timeless classics that they will come back to again and again.

✒ Auntie Leila from Like Mother Like Daughter had surgery last Tuesday. This blog has been a huge inspiration to me as a mother/homemaker. This coming Thursday I'm going to participate in the "Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real" link-up with a special post to say, "Get well soon Auntie Leila!".

✒ I'm planning a tight synchro-reading of The Return of the Native, by Thomas Hardy. I think I may need some hand holding through this one! I will start putting up comments chapter by chapter on my Classical Quest Facebook page starting December 1. (If you haven't visited the Classical Quest FB page yet, jump over and check it out. While you're there, click "like" and make my day!)

✒ Not sure yet if I'll go see Anna Karenina, the movie in the theater. (We almost never pay full price for a movie out. Dinner + movie +  baby sitting for five kids = "Why not have a nice date-night-in?") I was expecting it to be a another film which glorifies lust and carnality -- a liberty which  film adaptations of classic novels often take, leaving the viewers with a utterly different impression of the story than the author intended (i.e. The Scarlet Letter). However, after listening to this interview by screen play writer Tom Stoppard, I admit -- I'm intrigued.

✒ But first: the inquiry...

Perhaps you would like to start your own "excellence habits list". What sort of habits would you like to cultivate?

What are some of your all time favorite Christmas gifts for kids under age ten?

Have you seen Anna Karenina, the movie? If so -- thumbs up or down?

Would you like to join me for a "The Return of the Native Synchro-Read" on Facebook?

(Answer any or all or none! If you want -- just peek your head in and say hi! Blessings, friends!)

Anna Karenina's Paper Knife

by Adriana

When it's quiet around the dinner table it usually means the meal is especially satisfying.

And so it's been quiet here on the blog  as I've been mowing through Leo Tolstoy's 923 page gem, Anna Karenina.


I thought I'd peak my head in today to let you in on something new --

I've started a collection!

Ever since I read The Happiness Project last summer, I've been thinking about taking Gretchin Rubin's advice to collect something. But what? (I'm not big on knick-knacks.)

On my Pinterest page you will find a board called "Quotes from my Quest". These are not merely random pithy quotes that I've found while roaming the internet, they are quotes I've found on my own while holding a #2 Ticonderoga pencil in my hand! A couple of the images on the board are pictures I've taken myself.

My collection is currently small, but you can be sure I'm keeping it in mind as I read. I love to make connections between great quotes and great images!

Here's a tip: My main source for images on this board is Wiki Paintings the Visual Arts Encyclopedia. I discovered it very recently and I'm enthralled. It is vast, well organized and the image quality is good. You can view many paintings by pretty much any famous artist. You can also choose to view an artist's work chronologically or alphabetically.

Currently I've been intrigued by Russian artist, Konstantin Makovsky. Born in Moscow; died in Saint Petersburg -- he painted a lot of portraits of Russian aristocracy during the time Tolstoy was writing his novels.

Would you like to know what led me to Makovsky?

It was Anna Karenina's paper knife.

I came upon this while pinning images --

At first glance, a scene from Anna Karenina came to mind.

Remember the part where Anna had just boarded the train to Saint Petersburg?

Still in the same anxious frame of mind as she had been all day...she took from her bag a paper knife and an English novel.. twisting the smooth paper knife in her little hands, she forced herself to read.

Of course I had to find out who painted this. I did not expect to find it was one of Tolstoy's contemporaries!

Here's a few more of my favorites by Makovsky --

 

This is how I imagine Dolly Oblonskaya.

                                   

source

So now that I've told you all about my fun new hobby, I want to encourage you to try it for yourself. If you come across a great image that makes you think of a classic quote you've read, I would love for you to share both the image and the quote with me!

First, be sure to link your source.

Second, put your image/quote combo somewhere where I can see it! It really doesn't matter where --  the Classical Quest Facebook page, your blog or your own Pinterest board (just leave your link in the comment box).

Third, keep it clean.  I'll delete anything I consider inappropriate.

If I get enough feedback, I'll eventually start a new board on Pinterest called "Quotes from YOUR Quest".

I expect this will take a while because reading through the classics and making connections is a long process, but I'm not going anywhere in a hurry. You know where to find me!

Happy collecting!