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Source identified
“There are chance meetings with strangers that interest us from the first moment, before a word is spoken.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky · Narrator voice · Narrator

Source
Crime and Punishment
Date
1866
Attribution
Source identified
Voice / speaker
Narrator voice · Narrator
English wording
Constance Garnett — Translator · from Russian
Meaning

What does this quote mean?

The narrator observes that attention and interest can arise before conversation, capturing the immediate impressions people sometimes form in an encounter without claiming those impressions are necessarily accurate.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Crime and Punishment, Part I, Chapter II, Constance Garnett translation, Project Gutenberg #2554. This is narrator voice introducing Raskolnikov’s first interest in Marmeladov at the tavern, not a universal psychological law.

Primary / edition source ↗

Voice attribution

Who voices the line?

Narrator voice · Narrator. Narrator voice introduces Raskolnikov’s first interest in Marmeladov.

The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.

Attribution

How should this attribution be read?

This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.

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Themes

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