These Anna Karenina quotes by Leo Tolstoy are so timeless they make you break out your highlighter while reading. These classic book quotes reflect the wisdom and themes (particularly love and family) of the classic book I’m most asked about.
You’ll find inspirational literary love quotes here (the kind that can be used in real life for things like wedding ceremony scripts), along with an explanation and reading tips. Let’s get literary!
Best Anna Karenina Quotes With Page Numbers
Note: This novel’s translation and exact page numbers differ, as it was originally written in Russian, and there are so many editions. Use these as a starting point.
Anna Karenina’s Opening Line
The most famous quote in Anna Karenina is the opening line, which sets the tone for the novel’s exploration of family dynamics and individual struggles:
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” (page 1)
Read More: Most Famous Opening Lines in Literature
Quotes on Love
![[I]f it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.](https://theliterarylifestyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ANNA-KARENINA-LOVE-QUOTE.jpg)
“[I]f it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” (page 243)
“He stepped down, avoiding any long look at her as one avoids long looks at the sun, but seeing her as one sees the sun, without looking.” (page 51)
“He knew only that he had told her the truth, that he was going where she was, that the whole happiness of life, the sole meaning of life, he had now found in seeing and hearing her.” (pages 183-184)
“What is so exquisite is that not a word has been said by me or by her, but we understand each other so well in this unseen language of looks and tones, that this evening more clearly than ever she told me she loves me.” (page 102)
“There were no other eyes like those in the world. There was only one creature in the world who could concentrate for him all the brightness and meaning of life. It was she.” (page 488)
“Perhaps I am mistaken, but believe me, what I say, I say as much for myself as for you. I am your husband, and I love you.” (page 258)
“But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.” (page 1388)
“But Levin was in love, and so it seemed to him that Kitty was so perfect in every respect that she was a creature far above everything earthly; and that he was a creature so low and so earthly that it could not even be conceived that other people and she herself could regard him as worthy of her.” (page 41)
“It’s not so much that he can’t fall in love, but he has not the weakness necessary.” (page 978)
“He suddenly felt that the very thing that was the source of his sufferings had become the source of his spiritual joy; that what had seemed insoluble while he was judging, blaming, and hating, had become clear and simple when he forgave and loved.” (page 734)
“[W]ithout this love there is no happiness or unhappiness for us — there is no life.” (page 324)
“[T]o find out what love is really like, one must first make a mistake and then put it right.” (page 242)
“He felt that love saved him from despair, and that this love, under the threat of despair, had become still stronger and purer.” (page 883)
“And then all at once love turns up, and you’re done for, done for.” (page 73)
“Love. The reason I dislike that word is that it means too much for me, far more than you can understand.” (page 248)
“Through love she knew all his soul, and in his soul she saw what she wanted, and that such a state of soul should be called unbelieving was to her a matter of no account.” (page 17)
“All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” (page 75)
“It’s hard to love a woman and do anything.” (page 549)
“Every heart has its own skeletons.” (page 171)
“And where love ends, hate begins.” (page 1328)
“[T]he passion that united them was so intense that they were both oblivious of everything else but their love.” (page 325)
“I’ve enough pride never to let myself love a man who does not love me.” (page 218)
“Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there’s no forcing it.” (page 1217)
“I’ve always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, just as he or she is, and not as you would like them to be.” (page 1071)
“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.” (page 1294)
Quotes on Family
“Strange as it may appear, it was with the household, the family, that Konstantin Levin was in love[.]” (page 39)
“Marriage had never presented itself to [Vronsky] as a possibility. He not only disliked family life, but a family, and especially a husband was, in accordance with the views general in the bachelor world in which he lived, conceived as something alien, repellant, and, above all, ridiculous.” (page 101)
“In order to carry through any undertaking in family life, there must necessarily be either complete division between the husband and wife, or loving agreement.” (page 1286)
“[Levin] was happy; but on entering upon family life he saw at every step that it was utterly different from what he had imagined. At every step he experienced what a man would experience who, after admiring the smooth, happy course of a little boat on a lake, should get himself into that little boat. He saw that it was not all sitting still, floating smoothly; that one had to think too, not for an instant to forget where one was floating; and that there was water under one, and that one must row; and that his unaccustomed hands would be sore; and that it was only to look at it that was easy; but that doing it, though very delightful, was very difficult.” (page 839)
Anna Karenina Quotes Explained
Note: If you’re looking for ways to start reading the classics, particularly this one, check out my full Anna Karenina book review.
Anna Karenina shares that personal happiness and fulfillment are deeply intertwined with societal norms and personal choices. The novel explores the complexities of love, family, social expectations, and the consequences of straying from social norms.
If you’ve already read the 19th-century Russian classic romance novel, then you know that, unlike the title suggests, it’s not just about the protagonist and her tragic love affair. While this Winter-themed novel explores themes like society and class, Russian politics, and morality, it remains a book about family and love, told through the eyes of several characters.
From the famous opening line, Tolstoy references the unique unhappiness each family may experience and, wrapped up in this, are societal notions of love and marriage at the time and place of Anna Karenina.
Throughout 800+ pages, the reader learns exactly how love and family make for happiness or, more commonly, unhappiness.
The families in the novel share common ideals of love and happiness, but each character takes a unique path of unhappiness in striving to achieve it.
Fun Facts: Anna Karenina is an Oprah’s Book Club and one of Rory Gilmore’s favorite books on Gilmore Girls. It’s mentioned in Rory’s graduation speech.
Final Thoughts
Now that you have read all the best Anna Karenina quotes by Leo Tolstoy on love and family, do you agree with his overarching thesis that: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules
