"He had enough taste for painting to be unable to finish his picture. The picture came to a standstill. He was vaguely aware that its defects, inconspicuous at first, would be glaring if he were to go on with it."
I am mostly just enjoying Anna Karenina as a story and not finding anything too profound in it, but this bit stood out to me. Wonder if Tolstoy had himself in mind here or perhaps his compatriots? Certainly struck a chord with me and not necessarily just with art, but anything in general where we give up through fear of failure rather than actual failure itself.