*I am fated to journey hand in hand with my strange heroes and to survey the surging immensity of life, to survey it through the laughter that all can see and through the tears unseen and unknown by anyone.* [*Nikolai Gogol*](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/232932.Nikolai_Gogol?utm_medium=email&utm_source=quote_of_the_day) Novelist and playwright Nikolai Gogol (born March 31, 1809) feared being buried alive. When his grave was exhumed, his body was lying face down, giving rise to the rumor that the author’s greatest fear had come to pass.