"At first Yura was foisted on the slovenly old chatterbox Ostromyslensky, known among the clan as Fedka. Fedka lived in sin with his ward Motia and therefore saw himself as a disrupter of the established order and a champion of progressive thought."

This quote makes me laugh every time I read it! This poor fellow associating himself with stereotypical habits of "modern thinkers" or "intellectuals" has really convinced himself!

"Here was one of those followers of Tolstoy in whom the ideas of the genius who had never known peace had settled down to enjoy a long, unclouded rest, growing helplessly shallow in the process."