“You accept praise and slander with indifference, and do not challenge a fool.” - A.S. Pushkin from the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands...”

If there is a European in Russia, it is our government.

Affection and pomposity are more offensive than common people. Frank, original expressions common people are repeated in high society, without offending the ear, while the prim circumlocutions of provincial politeness would arouse a general smile.

Disrespect for ancestors is the first sign of savagery and immorality. It is not only possible, but also necessary, to be proud of the glory of your ancestors; not to respect it is shameful cowardice.

Should pretty women have character?

I, of course, despise my fatherland from head to toe - but it annoys me if a foreigner shares this feeling with me.

God forbid we see a Russian revolt, senseless and merciless! - Captain's daughter

Portrait of A. S. Pushkin (Orest Kiprensky, 1827)

1. Once the Russian writer Ivan Dmitriev visited the house of Alexander Pushkin’s parents. Alexander was still a child at that time, and therefore Dmitriev decided to make fun of the boy’s original appearance and said: “What an Arab!” But Hannibal’s ten-year-old grandson was not at a loss and instantly gave the answer: “But not a hazel grouse!” The adults present were surprised and terribly embarrassed, because the face of the writer Dmitriev was ugly pockmarked!

Xavier de Maistre. `Pushkin is a child`. 1801-1802

2. One day, one of Pushkin’s acquaintances, officer Kondyba, asked the poet if he could come up with a rhyme for the words cancer and fish. Pushkin replied: “Fool Kondyba!” The officer was embarrassed and suggested making a rhyme for the combination fish and cancer. Pushkin was not at a loss here either: “Kondyba is a fool.”

Somov Konstantin Andreevich (1869-1939): Portrait of A. S. Pushkin.

3. When he was still a chamber cadet, Pushkin once appeared before a high-ranking official who was lying on the sofa and yawning from boredom. When the young poet appeared, the high-ranking official did not even think about changing his position. Pushkin gave the owner of the house everything he needed and wanted to leave, but was ordered to speak impromptu.
Pushkin squeezed out through clenched teeth: “Children on the floor - smart man on the sofa.” The person was disappointed with the impromptu: “Well, what’s so witty here - children on the floor, smart guy on the sofa? I can’t understand... I expected more from you.” Pushkin was silent, and the high-ranking official, repeating the phrase and moving the syllables, finally came to the following result: “The half-smart kid is on the couch.” After the meaning of the impromptu came to the owner, Pushkin was immediately and indignantly thrown out the door.

S.G. Chirikov - Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.1810

4. During the period of courtship with his future wife Natalya, Pushkin told his friends a lot about her and usually said:
"I'm delighted, I'm fascinated,
In short, I’m delighted!”

Bryullov Alexander Pavlovich portrait of N.N. Goncharova

The poem “Madonna” (Pushkin’s word “Madonna” is written with one letter “n”) was written in the summer of 1830 in St. Petersburg just before Pushkin’s departure to Moscow, or rather, just before his departure to Boldino. Pushkin dedicated this poem to Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, who became his wife in February 1831.

Not many paintings by ancient masters
I always wanted to decorate my abode,
So that the visitor might superstitiously marvel at them,
Heeding the important judgment of experts.

In my simple corner, amidst slow labors,
I wanted to be forever a spectator of one picture,
One: so that from the canvas, like from the clouds,
The Most Pure One and our divine savior -

She with greatness, he with intelligence in his eyes -
They looked, meek, in glory and in the rays,
Alone, without angels, under the palm of Zion.

My wishes came true. Creator
He sent you to me, you, my Madonna,
The purest example of pure beauty.

Komarov V. A. S. Pushkin and N. N. Goncharova. Acquaintance.

Ustinov E. Pushkin and Natalie.

Pushkin at the ball.

5. And this one Funny case, which happened to Pushkin during his stay at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, shows how witty and resourceful the young poet was. One day he decided to run away from the lyceum to St. Petersburg for a walk. I went to the tutor Trico, but he wouldn’t let me in, and even scared me that he would keep an eye on Alexander. But hunt is worse than captivity - and Pushkin, together with Kuchelbecker, flees to St. Petersburg. Trico followed them.
Alexander was the first to arrive at the outpost. They asked him his last name, and he answered: “Alexander However!” Zastavny wrote down his last name and let him through. Kuchelbecker arrived next. When asked what his last name was, he said: “Grigory Dvako!” Zastavny wrote down the name and shook his head doubtfully. Finally, the tutor arrives. A question to him: “What is your last name?” Answers: “Leotards!” “You’re lying,” the guard shouts, “there’s something evil here!” One after another - One, Two, Three! You’re being naughty, brother, go to the guardhouse!” Trico spent the whole day under arrest at the outpost, and Pushkin and his friend calmly walked around the city.

Pushkin in the village of Mikhailovskoye (Pushchin near Pushkin). Artist N.N. Ge. 1875

6. Pushkin remembered himself from the age of 4. He talked several times about how one day while walking he noticed how the earth was swaying and the columns were shaking, and the last earthquake in Moscow was recorded precisely in 1803. And, by the way, at about the same time, Pushkin’s first meeting with the emperor took place - little Sasha almost fell under the hooves of Alexander I’s horse, who also went for a walk. Thank God, Alexander managed to hold his horse, the child was not hurt, and the only one who was seriously scared was the nanny.

7. Little Pushkin spent his childhood in Moscow. His first teachers were French tutors. And for the summer he usually went to his grandmother, Maria Alekseevna, in the village of Zakharovo near Moscow. When he was 12 years old, Pushkin entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, a closed educational institution with 30 students. At the Lyceum, Pushkin seriously studied poetry, especially French, for which he was nicknamed “the Frenchman.”

Repin I. Pushkin at an act in the Lyceum on January 8, 1815 reads his poem “Memoirs in Tsarskoe Selo.” 1911.

8. Pushkin got into the Lyceum, as they say, through connections. The Lyceum was founded by Minister Speransky himself, the enrollment was small - only 30 people, but Pushkin had an uncle - a very famous and talented poet Vasily Lvovich Pushkin, who was personally acquainted with Speransky.

Repin I.A.S. Pushkin with Karl Bryullov. 1912.

9. The Lyceum published a handwritten magazine “The Lyceum Sage”. Pushkin wrote poetry there. Once he wrote: “Wilhelm, read your poems so that I can fall asleep sooner.” Offended, Kuchelbecker ran to drown himself in the pond. They managed to save him. Soon a caricature was drawn in The Lyceum Sage: Kuchelbecker is drowning, and his long nose sticks out of the pond.

Favorsky V. Pushkin - lyceum student

Kuchelbecker, Wilhelm Karlovich (1797-1846)

10. In 1817, the first graduation of lyceum students took place. Having passed within seventeen May days 15 exams, including Latin, Russian, German and French literature, General history, law, mathematics, physics, geography, Pushkin and his friends received certificates of completion of the Lyceum. The poet was twenty-sixth in academic performance (out of 29 graduates), showing only “excellent” success in Russian and French literature, as well as in fencing.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin reads his poem before Gavriil Derzhavin at the Lyceum exam in Tsarskoe Selo on January 8, 1815.

11. It is known that Pushkin was very loving. At the age of 14 he began visiting brothels. And, already being married, he continued to visit the “cheerful girls”, and also had married mistresses.

Pyotr Fedorovich Sokolov (1791-1848) Portrait of A.S. Pushkin

12. It’s very interesting to read not even the list of his victories, but reviews about him different people. His brother, for example, said that Pushkin was ugly and short in stature, but for some reason women liked him. This is confirmed by an enthusiastic letter from Vera Aleksandrovna Nashchokina, with whom Pushkin was also in love: “Pushkin was brown-haired and very curly hair, blue eyes and extraordinary attractiveness." However, the same brother of Pushkin admitted that when Pushkin was interested in someone, he became very tempting. On the other hand, when Pushkin was not interested, his conversation was sluggish, boring and simply unbearable.

13. Pushkin was a genius, but he was not handsome, and in this respect he contrasted with his beautiful wife Natalya Goncharova, who, at the same time, was 10 cm taller than him. For this reason, when attending balls, Pushkin tried to stay away from his wife: so that those around him would not see such an unpleasant contrast for him.

14. The gendarmerie official of the III department, Popov, wrote about Pushkin: “He was in the full sense of the word a child, and, like a child, he was not afraid of anyone.” Even his literary enemy, the notorious Thaddeus Bulgarin, covered in Pushkin's epigrams, wrote about him: “Modest in judgment, amiable in society and a child at heart.”

Savitsky M. Pushkin and Natalie.

15. Pushkin’s laughter produced the same charming impression as his poems. The artist Karl Bryullov said about him: “What a lucky man Pushkin is! He laughs so much that it’s as if his intestines are visible.” And in fact, Pushkin argued all his life that everything that arouses laughter is permissible and healthy, and everything that inflames passions is criminal and harmful.

Oboznaya Valentina Ivanovna / Pushkin reads poetry

16. Pushkin had gambling debts, and quite serious ones. True, he almost always found means to cover them, but when any delays occurred, he wrote angry epigrams to his creditors and drew their caricatures in notebooks. One day such a sheet was found, and there was a big scandal.

17. Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich advised Pushkin to quit card game, speaking;
- She's spoiling you!
“On the contrary, Your Majesty,” answered the poet, “cards save me from the blues.”
- But what about your poetry after that?
- It serves as a means for me to pay off my gambling debts. Your Majesty.
And indeed, when Pushkin was burdened with gambling debts, he sat down at his desk and worked off them in excess in one night. Thus, for example, he wrote “Count Nulin”.

Ustinov E. Pushkin, Natalie, Nikolai I.

18. While living in Yekaterinoslav, Pushkin was invited to a ball. That evening he was in a special mood. Lightning bolts of witticisms flew from his lips; ladies and girls vied with each other to try to capture his attention. Two guards officers, two recent idols of Ekaterinoslav ladies, not knowing Pushkin and considering him some kind of teacher, probably, decided, at all costs, to “embarrass” him. They approach Pushkin and, shuffling around in the most incomparable manner, address:
- Mille pardon... Not having the honor of knowing you, but seeing in you educated person, we allow ourselves to turn to you for a little clarification. Would you be so kind as to tell us how to put it more correctly: “Hey, man, give me a glass of water!” or “Hey man, bring me a glass of water!”
Pushkin clearly understood the desire to joke with him and, without being at all embarrassed, answered seriously:
- It seems to me that you can express it directly: “Hey, man, take us to a watering hole.”

Ulyanov. Pushkin at the ball in a chamber cadet uniform.

19. In one literary circle, where more enemies and fewer friends of Pushkin gathered, where he himself sometimes visited, one of the members of this circle composed a lampoon against the poet, in verse, under the title “Message to the Poet.” Pushkin was expected on the appointed evening, and he, as usual, arrived late. All those present were, of course, in an excited state, and especially the author of the “Message”, who did not suspect that Alexander Sergeevich had already been warned about his trick. The literary part of the evening began with the reading of this particular “Message,” and its author, standing in the middle of the room, loudly proclaimed:
- "Message to the poet"! - Then, turning to the side where Pushkin was sitting, he began:
- I give the poet a donkey’s head...
Pushkin quickly interrupts him, turning more towards the listeners:
- And which one will he stay with?
The author was confused:
- And I’ll stay with mine.
Pushkin:
- Yes, you just gave it as a gift.
General confusion followed. The stunned author fell silent.

Alexander Kravchuk "Portrait of Pushkin"

20. According to Pushkin scholars, the clash with Dantes was at least the twenty-first challenge to a duel in the poet’s biography. He was the initiator of fifteen duels, of which four took place, the rest did not take place due to the reconciliation of the parties, mainly through the efforts of Pushkin’s friends; in six cases the challenge to a duel came not from Pushkin, but from his opponents. Pushkin's first duel took place at the Lyceum.

21. It is known that Alexander Sergeevich was very fond of his lyceum friend Kuchelbecker, but often played pranks on him. Kuchelbecker often visited the poet Zhukovsky, pestering him with his poems. Once Zhukovsky was invited to some kind of friendly dinner and did not come. Then they asked him why he was not there, the poet replied: “I had upset my stomach the day before, and besides, Kuchelbecker came, and I stayed at home...” Pushkin, having heard this, wrote an epigram:
I overate at dinner
Yes, Yakov locked the door by mistake -
So it was for me, my friends,
Both Kuchelbecker and sickening...
Kuchelbecker was furious and demanded a duel! The duel took place. Both fired. But the pistols were loaded... with cranberries, and, of course, the fight ended peacefully...

Pushkin, Krylov, Zhukovsky and Gnedich in Summer Garden. Date 1832 Author Grigory Chernetsov

22. Dantes was a relative of Pushkin. At the time of the duel, he was married to the sister of Pushkin’s wife, Ekaterina Goncharova.

Duel of Alexander Pushkin with Georges Dantes. Painting by A. A. Naumov

Georges Charles Dantes. 1830

23. Before his death, Pushkin, putting his affairs in order, exchanged notes with Emperor Nicholas I. The notes were passed on by two outstanding person: V. A. Zhukovsky - poet, at that time educator of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II, and N. F. Arendt - physician of Emperor Nicholas I, Pushkin’s doctor.
The poet asked for forgiveness for violating the royal ban on dueling: “...I’m waiting for the king’s word so that I can die in peace...”
Sovereign: “If God does not order us to meet again in this world, I send you my forgiveness and my last advice to die as a Christian. Don’t worry about your wife and children, I take them into my arms.” It is believed that this note was conveyed by Zhukovsky.

A witness to the death, Zhukovsky, said:
His face was so familiar to me, and it was noticeable
What was expressed in it - in the life of such
We didn't see it on this face. No inspiration
The flame is on it; the sharp mind did not shine;
No! But with some thought, a deep, cheerful thought
It was embraced. It seemed to me that he
At that moment it was as if some vision
Something was happening to him... And I wanted to ask:
What do you see?

Bruni F. Pushkin (in the coffin). 1837.

24. Of Pushkin’s children, only two left offspring - Alexander and Natalya. But the poet’s descendants now live all over the globe: in England, Germany, Belgium... About fifty live in Russia. Tatyana Ivanovna Lukash is especially interesting. Her great-grandmother (Pushkin’s granddaughter) was married to Gogol’s great-nephew. Now Tatyana lives in Klin.

N. I. Friesengof. Children of A.S. Pushkin. 1839. Drawing

Ivan Makarov - Maria Alexandrovna Pushkina (1832-1919) - daughter of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova

Portrait of a chamber cadet (Grigory Aleksandrovich Pushkin). Portrait by I.K. Makarova, 1884 (From the original 1852-1853)

ON THE. Pushkina-Dubelt-Merenberg

Alexander Alexandrovich Pushkin, lieutenant general, son of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

25. And - finally - probably the funniest fact, which, however, has nothing to do with the biography of Pushkin. In Ethiopia a few years ago they erected a monument to Pushkin like this. The words “To our poet” are carved on a beautiful marble pedestal.

Monument to Pushkin in Ethiopia

Savrasov A. The grave of A. S. Pushkin in the Svyatogorsk Monastery. 1873.

And even to an insensitive body
Equally decay everywhere,
But closer to the cute limit
I would still like to rest.

Pushkin's grave

Belyukin D. A. S. Pushkin.

Family tree of the Pushkins (watercolor)

The house on Nemetskaya Street in Moscow (Baumanskaya, building 57 b), where A.S. Pushkin was born, as was believed before the revolution. The reproduction shows a marble board. Album for the 100th anniversary of A.S. Pushkin. 1899

Great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal

Grandmother, Maria Alekseevna Hannibal (1745-1818)

Sergei Lvovich Pushkin

Portrait of N. O. Pushkina by C. de Maistre Nadezhda Osipovna Pushkina (nee Hannibal, July 2, 1775 - March 29, 1836)

Olga Sergeevna Pavlishcheva (nee Pushkina) (1797-1868) - Native sister A. S. Pushkin.

Alexandra Nikolaevna Goncharova (married Friesengoff). Portrait unknown artist, late 1820s - early 1830s. Sister-in-law of A.S. Pushkin

Goncharova Ekaterina Nikolaevna (1809-1843) - Baroness Heckern, maid of honor, sister of N. N. Pushkina, wife of A. S. Pushkin’s murderer Georges Dantes

The rotunda fountain “Natalia and Alexander” was installed in 1999 in Moscow near the Church of the Great Ascension, where A.S. Pushkin and N.N. Goncharova were married. Architects M.A. Belov, M.A. Kharitonov, sculptor M.V. Dronov

monument at the site of Pushkin's duel, St. Petersburg.

Aivazovsky I., Repin I. Pushkin’s farewell to the sea. 1887.

Praise and slander were accepted with indifference / And do not challenge the fool
From the poem “Monument” (1836) by A. S. Pushkin (1799-1837).
Quoted: as advice to always and in everything maintain self-esteem, remain faithful to your convictions and principles; create in accordance with your vision of the world.

• - “YOUR AMINT LOOKS LIKE A FOOLISH”, see “Epigrams”...

  Lermontov Encyclopedia

• - Wed. Do not be afraid of insult, do not demand a crown; Accept praise and slander with indifference and do not challenge a fool. A. S. Pushkin. Monument. Wed. But tell me, who knew how to deal with a fool? P. P. Sumarokov...
• - From the lyrical drama “Three Deaths” by the poet Apollo Nikolaevich Maykov: A wise man is distinguished from a fool by the fact that he thinks to the end...
• - see. Accept boasting and slander indifferently / And do not challenge the fool...

  Dictionary winged words and expressions

• - From the poem “It’s good to see what is found.....

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• - adj., number of synonyms: 3 extolled glorified glorified...

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• - indifferently I adv. qualities Showing indifference 2., being indifferent, indifferent to someone or something. II predictor...

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• - Wed. Do not be afraid of insult, do not demand a crown; Praise and slander were accepted indifferently by I.A.S. Pushkin. Monument. Wed. But tell me, who knew how to deal with a fool? R.R. Sumarokov. Cupid deprived of sight...
• - Wed. Praise and slander were accepted indifferently. A.S. Pushkin. Monument. Wed. The reproach of the ignorant, the reproach of people does not sadden a lofty soul. Let the waves of the seas roar - the granite cliff will not fall. M.Yu. Lermontov. "I don't want". Wed. Que j"...

  Mikhelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

• - They accepted praise and slander with indifference. Wed. Praise and slander were received indifferently. A. S. Pushkin. Monument. Wed. The reproach of the ignorant, the reproach of people does not sadden a lofty soul...

  Michelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (orig. orf.)

• - With a fool. Mord. Disapproved Same as with stupidity. SRGM 1978, 114...

  Large dictionary of Russian sayings

• - adj., number of synonyms: 20 exalted to the skies praising praising praising praising praising praising could not praise himself showered with praise sang...

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• - insensitive, without expression, cold-blooded, indifferent, disregarding, apathetic, detached, inexpressive, indifferent, cold, lukewarm, phlegmatic, cold-blooded, indifferent, detached, cold-hearted,...

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• - adj., number of synonyms: 1 slandered...

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• - adj., number of synonyms: 4 slanderous slanderous slanderous slanderous...

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“Praise and slander were accepted with indifference / And do not challenge a fool” in books

“You can shrug your shoulder indifferently...”