Light and Shadow

From Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy:

“It’s this, don’t you see,” said Stepan Arkadyevitch, “you’re very much all of a piece. That’s your strong point and your failing. You have a character that’s all of a piece, and you want the whole of life to be of a piece too – but that’s not how it is. You despise public official work because you want the reality to be invariably corresponding all the while with the aim – and that’s not how it is. You want a man’s work, too, always to have a defined aim, and love and family life always to be undivided – and that’s not how it is.  All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”