War & Peace (TV Series)

The Retreat (1973)

Anthony Hopkins: Pierre Bezukhov

Quotes 

• Pierre Bezukhov : He's dying, isn't he? Platon Karatayev is dying. That's why you moved away from him. Because you're afraid. His very proximity worries you, as if his fate is an infection which can be caught. Has your experience then made you more callous? No. More resigned. You've learned simply that there is nothing in the world to be dreaded, that there is a limit to suffering, and a limit to freedom, and the limits are not very far away. Yes, you've learned that now. Yes, and from him, Platon Karatayev.

• Pierre Bezukhov : Everything changes, to and fro. And that movement is God. And while there is life, there is joy. To live is to love God. And more difficult and more blessed is to love this life and one's sufferings. Ah, yes, even in one's own deserved sufferings. Platon Karatayev, he knew it all his life. How is it that I never knew until now, just as I'm about to die, as undoubtedly I shall die very very soon.