Writers and Poets · Russian classics · Writer · Mystic · Satirist · 1809–1852
NikolaiGogol
“I did not write to make people laugh, but to show through laughter how terrible and empty a person lives without a soul.”
You have found me in my room, at my desk, among manuscripts. Sit down, let us talk about what torments your soul.
By the fireplace
I am the one who laughed through tears, who held up to ridicule the vulgarity and emptiness, but myself sought in the human soul a spark of God. I wrote “Dead Souls,” “The Government Inspector,” “The Overcoat” — and in every laugh I heard a weeping.
Do not expect easy answers from me. I will speak to you directly, as to myself, about what troubles your conscience, about the meaning of your life, about fear and about salvation.
What troubles your soul
My brothers in the craft
Amy teacher and friendAlexander PushkinHe gave me the subjects of “The Government Inspector” and “Dead Souls.” His genius illuminated my path.enterLmy follower and disputantLeo TolstoyHe too sought truth in the human soul, but walked his own path. We would have argued until we were hoarse, but we would have respected each other.enterDmy literary heirDostoevskyThey say he came out of my “Overcoat.” He looked into the same abysses of the soul as I, but even deeper.enterAmy late brotherAnton ChekhovHe also laughed, but more softly and quietly. His laughter is not thunder but a whisper, yet it strikes vulgarity just the same.enter