“I am like a sailor who has escaped disaster only because he has never ventured far out to sea.”

Original: Ведь я то же, что иной моряк, с которым оттого только и беды не случалось, что он не хаживал далеко в море. — At a celebration of his long career, Krylov answered praise with striking self-deprecation. · Conversation at his literary jubilee, recorded by P. A. Pletnev, 1838 (Russian)

• Fame
• Humility
• Wit