"The Russian language is able to express by means of one pitiless word the idea of a certain widespread defect for which the other three European languages I happen to know possess no special term. The absence of a particular expression in the vocabulary of a nation does not necessarily coincide with the absence of the corresponding notion but it certainly impairs the fullness and readiness of the latter's perception."
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Original Language: English
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First sentence of this quote also quoted in Anna Wierzbicka, Understanding Cultures Through Their Key Words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese (Oxford University Press USA 1997) page 2external link and V. E. Alexandrov, The Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov (Routledge 2014, first published by Taylor & Francis 1995), page 628external link]
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Anna Wierzbicka
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