He [Levin] was happy, but, having entered upon family life, he saw at every step that it was not what he had imagined. [p479 (2000)]

There are no conditions to which a person cannot grow accustomed, especially if he sees that everyone around him lives in the same way. [p706 (2000)]

"If you look for perfection, you will never be satisfied. And it's true, as papa says, ---- that when we were brought up there was one extreme --- we were kept in the basement, while our parents lived in the best rooms; now its just the other way --- the parent are in the wash-house, while the children are in the best rooms. Parents now are not expected to live at all, but to exist altogether for their children." [Natalia; p618)

“Vronsky’s life was particularly happy in that he had a code of principles, which defined with unfailing certitude what he ought and what he ought not to do.  This code of principles covered only a very small circle of contingencies, but then the principles were never doubtful and Vronsky, as he never went outside that circle, had never had a moment’s hesitation about doing what he ought to do.  These principles laid down as invariable rules: that on must pay a card debt, but one need not pay a tailor; that one must never tell a lie to a man, but one may to a woman; that one must never cheat anyone, but one may cheat a husband; that one must never pardon an insult, but one may give one, and so on.  These principles were possibly not reasonable and not good, but they were of unfailing certainty, and so long as he adhered to them, Vronsky felt that his heart was at peace and he could hold his head up.”

But I'm glad you'll see me as I am. Above all, I wouldn't want people to think that I want to prove anything. I don't want to prove anything, I just want to live; to cause no evil to anyone but myself. I have that right, haven't I?

It's a vicious circle. Women are deprived of rights because of their lack of education, and their lack of education comes from having no rights. We mustn't forget that the subjection of women is so great and so old that we often refuse to comprehend the abyss that separates them from us.