# Quote — Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls

> They insist that an author should write in the strictest, purest and noblest language: in short, they expect the Russian language to drop from the clouds, already refined, and that it should come naturally to the lips, so that all they have to do is to open their mouth and stick out their tongue. It goes without saying, of course, that the feminine half of the human species is very wise; but it must be confessed that our respected readers are even wiser.

- Author: [Nikolai Gogol](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nikolai-gogol.md)
- Book: [Dead Souls](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikolai_Gogol#Dead_Souls_(1842)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls/they-insist-that

## More from this book

> Russia, are you not speeding along like a fiery and matchless troika?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls/russia-are-you.md)

> Among a number of intelligent suggestions there was finally this one too, strange as it may seem, that Chichikov might be Napoleon in disguise...

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls/among-a-number.md)

> However, nothing turned out as Tchitchikoff had intended.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls/however-nothing-turned.md)