--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was nothing ugly in the small…" description: "\"“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on the vie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/ivan-turgenev-2671_bad-impression_there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unpr_217495.jpg" --- # There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing… ![“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on the viewer. One felt inclined to ask: "What's the matter? Are you hungry? Bored? Afraid? Why so tense?" Just like Sitnikov, she was always anxious. She…” quote by Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/ivan-turgenev-2671_bad-impression_there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unpr_217495.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/ivan-turgenev-2671_bad-impression_there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unpr_217495.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/ivan-turgenev-2671_bad-impression_there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unpr_217495.jpg) > ““There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on the viewer. One felt inclined to ask: "What's the matter? Are you hungry? Bored? Afraid? Why so tense?" Just like Sitnikov, she was always anxious. She spoke and moved in a rather casual, though awkward,manner: she obviously considered herself a good-natured, simple creature; at the same time, no matter what she did, it always seemed that she didn't want to be doing that. Everything she did appeared to be done on purpose, as children say, that is, neither simply nor naturally.”” [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A liberated woman appears outwardly modest, yet her anxious demeanor and forced actions betray inner tension and self‑consciousness. **In simple terms:** She looks simple but feels uneasy and compelled. Key Takeaway Notice and address hidden anxieties. Themes identity anxiety appearance authenticity Mood reflective melancholic Type literary character study When to use this quote - personal relationships - mental health - self‑esteem - authentic living Key Concepts self‑consciousness performance social pressure Questions to Reflect On - What does her anxiety reveal about societal expectations? - How can we recognize forced behavior in ourselves? A Different Perspective Her outward calm may mask deeper psychological conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anxious Spoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxious-spoke-2230428/) [Bad impression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-impression/) [Figure Emancipated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figure-emancipated-2230429/) [Like Sitnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-sitnikov-2230427/) [Sitnikov Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitnikov-anxious-2230426/) [Woman Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman-expression-989480/) ## Related quotes > [When it comes to a woman's expression, I don't think there's anyone who did it better than Saroj Ji.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisy-shah/when-it-comes-to-a-woman-s-expression-i-don-t-think-there-s-anyone/) [Daisy Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisy-shah/) > [“Whatever is deeply, essentially female--the life in a woman's expression, the feel of her flesh, the shape of her breasts, the transformations after childbirth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/whatever-is-deeply-essentially-female-the-life-in-a-woman-s/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Negative talk and negative opinions give a bad impression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-giblin/negative-talk-and-negative-opinions-give-a-bad-impression/) [Les Giblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-giblin/) > [“Sometimes it is better to refrain from engaging in conversation because making no impression is better than making a bad impression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/sometimes-it-is-better-to-refrain-from-engaging-in-conversation/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [First impressions are key,if you give me a bad first impression I probably will have that idea of you forever honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-impressions-are-key-if-you-give-me-a-bad-first-impression-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was in college, but I got kicked out. It was a very free school, but I created a "bad impression." Like I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/i-was-in-college-but-i-got-kicked-out-it-was-a-very-free-school-but-i/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [I want to scream until no sound comes out and you've learned your lesson, I want to swallow these pills to get to sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boys-like-girls/i-want-to-scream-until-no-sound-comes-out-and-you-ve-learned-your/) [Boys Like Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boys-like-girls/) > [Hi, I'm one of the knife-carrying hooligans you met last night in Pandemonium? I'm afraid I made a bad impression and was hoping you'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/hi-i-m-one-of-the-knife-carrying-hooligans-you-met-last-night-in/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I quickly learned that asking if an interview space was wheelchair accessible was a bad idea; it gave a potential employer an immediate bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-young/i-quickly-learned-that-asking-if-an-interview-space-was-wheelchair/) [Stella Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-young/) > [ People get a bad impression of it \[the English climate\] by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-whitehorn/people-get-a-bad-impression-of-it-the-english-climate-by-continually/) [Katharine Whitehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-whitehorn/) > [“Is this Clarissa Fray?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded familiar, though not immediately identifiable. Clary twirled the phone cord…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/is-this-clarissa-fray-the-voice-on-the-other-end-of-the-phone-sounded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Demoralizing self-talk leads to a self-destructive mindset, making everything in life more difficult. Not only that, how you feel about yourself oozes out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/demoralizing-self-talk-leads-to-a-self-destructive-mindset-making/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [People get a bad impression of it by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who ought to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-whitehorn/people-get-a-bad-impression-of-it-by-continually-trying-to-treat-it/) [Katharine Whitehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-whitehorn/) > [“The world needs more men like you,” she added, plenty loud enough for those close by to hear over the sounds of a pub…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-kauffman/the-world-needs-more-men-like-you-she-added-plenty-loud-enough-for/) [Donna Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-kauffman/) > [For Prince William, I focused more on doing a bad impression of a romantic lead than on Prince William himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-skinner/for-prince-william-i-focused-more-on-doing-a-bad-impression-of-a/) [Hugh Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-skinner/) ## More by Ivan Turgenev > [What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-a-magnificent-body-how-i-should-like-to-see-it-on-the-dissecting/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“I think; here I lie under a haystack… The tiny space I occupy is so infinitely small in comparison with the rest of space,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-think-here-i-lie-under-a-haystack-the-tiny-space-i-occupy-is-so/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [That is what poetry can do. It speaks to us of what does not exist, which is not only better than what exists, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/that-is-what-poetry-can-do-it-speaks-to-us-of-what-does-not-exist/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [So long as one's just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/so-long-as-one-s-just-dreaming-about-what-to-do-one-can-soar-like-an/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/most-people-can-t-understand-how-others-can-blow-their-noses/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/the-past-was-a-dream-wasn-t-it-and-who-ever-remembers-dreams/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I think that I have already been moving too long in a sphere which is not my own. Flying fishes can hold out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-think-that-i-have-already-been-moving-too-long-in-a-sphere/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“In his funeral oration the spokesman of the most artistic and critical of European nations, Ernest Renan, hailed him as one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/in-his-funeral-oration-the-spokesman-of-the-most-artistic-and/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Love isn't actually a feeling at all--it's an illness, a certain condition of body and soul… Usually it takes possession of someone without his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/love-isn-t-actually-a-feeling-at-all-it-s-an-illness-a-certain/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [There's something tragic in the fate of almost every person--it's just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-s-something-tragic-in-the-fate-of-almost-every-person-it-s-just/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I had absolutely lost all sense of personal dignity, and could not tear myself away from the spectacle of my own misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-had-absolutely-lost-all-sense-of-personal-dignity-and-could-not/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“My son,' he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/my-son-he-wrote-to-me-fear-the-love-of-woman-fear-that-bliss-that/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Great God, grant that twice two be not four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/great-god-grant-that-twice-two-be-not-four/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [What's terrible is that there's nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-s-terrible-is-that-there-s-nothing-terrible-that-the-very/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“Poetry is the language of the gods. I love poems myself. But poetry is not only in poems; it is diffused everywhere, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/poetry-is-the-language-of-the-gods-i-love-poems-myself-but-poetry-is/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) [Explore all 146 Ivan Turgenev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## More Bad impression quotes > [“Negative talk and negative opinions give a bad impression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-giblin/negative-talk-and-negative-opinions-give-a-bad-impression/) [Les Giblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-giblin/) > [“The world needs more men like you,” she added, plenty loud enough for those close by to hear over the sounds of a pub…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-kauffman/the-world-needs-more-men-like-you-she-added-plenty-loud-enough-for/) [Donna Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-kauffman/) > [People get a bad impression of it by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who ought to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-whitehorn/people-get-a-bad-impression-of-it-by-continually-trying-to-treat-it/) [Katharine Whitehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-whitehorn/) > [“Demoralizing self-talk leads to a self-destructive mindset, making everything in life more difficult. Not only that, how you feel about yourself oozes out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/demoralizing-self-talk-leads-to-a-self-destructive-mindset-making/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“Is this Clarissa Fray?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded familiar, though not immediately identifiable. Clary twirled the phone cord…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/is-this-clarissa-fray-the-voice-on-the-other-end-of-the-phone-sounded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ People get a bad impression of it \[the English climate\] by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-whitehorn/people-get-a-bad-impression-of-it-the-english-climate-by-continually/) [Katharine Whitehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-whitehorn/) > [I quickly learned that asking if an interview space was wheelchair accessible was a bad idea; it gave a potential employer an immediate bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-young/i-quickly-learned-that-asking-if-an-interview-space-was-wheelchair/) [Stella Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-young/) > [Hi, I'm one of the knife-carrying hooligans you met last night in Pandemonium? I'm afraid I made a bad impression and was hoping you'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/hi-i-m-one-of-the-knife-carrying-hooligans-you-met-last-night-in/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I want to scream until no sound comes out and you've learned your lesson, I want to swallow these pills to get to sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boys-like-girls/i-want-to-scream-until-no-sound-comes-out-and-you-ve-learned-your/) [Boys Like Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boys-like-girls/) > [I was in college, but I got kicked out. It was a very free school, but I created a "bad impression." Like I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/i-was-in-college-but-i-got-kicked-out-it-was-a-very-free-school-but-i/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [First impressions are key,if you give me a bad first impression I probably will have that idea of you forever honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-impressions-are-key-if-you-give-me-a-bad-first-impression-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sometimes it is better to refrain from engaging in conversation because making no impression is better than making a bad impression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/sometimes-it-is-better-to-refrain-from-engaging-in-conversation/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [For Prince William, I focused more on doing a bad impression of a romantic lead than on Prince William himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-skinner/for-prince-william-i-focused-more-on-doing-a-bad-impression-of-a/) [Hugh Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-skinner/) > [“Many people have never discovered the power generated from a heart of service. They show up to life projecting a right of entitlement in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/many-people-have-never-discovered-the-power-generated-from-a-heart-of/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“Hugging is quite an intimate contact. Considering the studies done on proxemics we looked at earlier; when you get within two feet of another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/hugging-is-quite-an-intimate-contact-considering-the-studies-done-on/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) [Browse all 19 Bad impression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-impression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on the viewer. One felt inclined to ask: \"What's the matter? Are you hungry? Bored? Afraid? Why so tense?\" Just like Sitnikov, she was always anxious. She spoke and moved in a rather casual, though awkward,manner: she obviously considered herself a good-natured, simple creature; at the same time, no matter what she did, it always seemed that she didn't want to be doing that. 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