Kozma Prutkov

Kozma Petrovich Prutkov (Russian: Козьма́ Петро́вич Прутко́в) is a collective pen name used by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy and his cousins, three Zhemchuzhnikov brothers, Alexei, Vladimir and Alexander to publish satires, aphorisms, fables, epigrams, and humorous and nonsense verses during Nicholas I of Russia's authoritarian reign in the 1850s–1860s, most notably in the literary magazine "Sovremennik" (The Contemporary).

Quotes

• Even oysters have enemies.
  • Quoted by Jack Nicholson at the 2010 AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony for Mike Nichols (without naming the author Kozma Prutkov), also quoted as "Even an oyster has enemies".
  • Original Russian: И устрица имеет врагов!
    • No. 86 in: Плоды раздумья - Мысли и афоризмы)