15 quotes from Sergei Dovlatov's books that every Russian knows

Well, what kind of humor do Tolstoy or Dostoevsky have? Even Chekhov is famous for his irony, which borders on sarcasm. Sergei Dovlatov is a different story altogether. With him, even bitterness is wrapped in humor, like a pill in a sweet treat. Perhaps that's why quotes from his works have long since become folklore.

• “By nightfall, the dinner conversation had degenerated into a heated argument with a hint of a brawl.”
• “I've read so much about the dangers of alcohol! I've decided to give up… reading forever.”
• “I don't drink beer. But, I'll happily have one…”
• “A husband was absolutely essential. He was worth having, if only as an object of hatred.”
• “He resembled a diver. Just as lonely and impenetrable.”
• “Silence is a powerful force. It should be banned, like a biological weapon…”
• “I'm walking home in the evening. I look – children are playing in the mud. I look closer – they're mine.”
• “I counted the money without taking my hand out of my pocket.”
• “What ruins a fool? The craving for beauty.”
• “The most important thing in a book and in a woman is not form, but content.”
• “He lied even when it was absurd. When asked, ‘What time is it?’ he responded evasively.”
• “Lenin was depicted in a familiar pose – a tourist hitchhiking on the highway.”
• “A decent person is one who does nasty things without taking pleasure in them.”
• “A good man always has difficult relationships with women.”
• “Sober Borka and drunk Borka are such different people that they don't even know each other…”