War & Peace (TV Series)

New Beginnings (1972)

Alan Dobie: Prince Andrei Bolkonsky

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Quotes 

• Pierre Bezukhov : So, you say, get through life as best one can, without hurting others, all right. But one can do more. Our brotherhood of freemasonry, we can do more. We can help beautify life, instead of just accepting its brutality.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : You behold the reign of goodness and truth on earth. I don't.

• Pierre Bezukhov : How on earth can you live with such ideas? What point is there in your life then?

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : To get through it, with as little pain to oneself and hurt to others.

  Pierre Bezukhov : Oh well, just, uh, sit back without stirring, without embarking on anything, then.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : Life won't leave one in peace.

• Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : Oh well, if you must have an occupation, doing good will do as well as any other.

• Pierre Bezukhov : Heard about the duel, I suppose?

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : Yes. You had to go through that, too.

  Pierre Bezukhov : Yes. I only thank God that I didn't kill the man.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : Why? To kill a vicious dog isn't a crime.

  Pierre Bezukhov : No, but to kill a man is. I think that's the worst evil one can do, take another man's life.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : I don't see it. I know of only two real evils in life: remorse and illness. The only good is the absence of both of them.

  Pierre Bezukhov : Oh, no, I can't agree with you. It's such a negative outlook, I mean, to live with the... live with the sole object of avoiding evil. I used to do that myself, but not anymore. At least I try not to now. Now at least I try to live for other people.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : You have the enthusiasm of a convert.

• Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : You want to liberate the serfs. I too, but not for their sake. For the sake of the serf owners, who are themselves brutalized by too much power.

• Pierre Bezukhov : The great thing is that I know for certain that enjoyment of doing good is the only true happiness in life.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : Your happiness. So you're back to living for yourself again. Which isn't so far from what I was saying.

  Pierre Bezukhov : No, no, no, you're twisting everything. Just listen. That I enjoy doing good is one thing. That other people benefit is something else, much, much greater.

• Pierre Bezukhov : Can you think it possible that our life here on earth is the end of all things? I can't believe it. I don't believe it. I can't. I feel in my soul as though I'm part of that vast harmonious whole we call the universe. You do as well but you won't admit it.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : No, I won't admit it. How can I? When someone who is dear to you and whom you have wronged by not showing her that dearness, suddenly ceases to exist for no reason, vanishes, but it's a delusion to believe that she exists somewhere, forgiving you.

  Pierre Bezukhov : No. No, her forgiveness is in the child she left you. Then all the possibilities of good that are in you to do. My dear friend, you must, must live again, in spite of the past, and love again. That is man's task on earth, to live and to love. Once he does that, he becomes a part of that vast harmonious whole. Look. Look up there. That infinity of sky. Look. Can you look at it and think that our lives will end here on earth? No. No. You and I are links in a vast invisible chain, the beginnings of which are hidden somewhere in that lofty sky.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : I saw that sky at Austerlitz. I haven't seen it since, until now. Now if only you were right, my friend, in the things you say.

  Pierre Bezukhov : I am. I am. I believe it.

  Prince Andrei Bolkonsky : Well, perhaps.