How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #7
ASTROV: [...] I now expect nothing for myself, I don't love humanity… It's a long time since I loved anyone. (2.230-21)
This is an interesting way of saying that you're single and loving it, Doctor. Putting the verbs "expect" and "love" together like this makes the spectator think about the connection between them. And it's true—expectations and love go hand in hand. When you love someone, you imagine a future with them. Astrov has given up on love and therefore has no expectations for the future.
Quote #8
ASTROV: [...] I am old, I've worked myself to the bone, I've coarsened, all my feelings are blunted and I don't think now I could become attached to a human being. I love no one and … now I won't love. What still excites me is beauty. I am not indifferent to that. I think that if Yelena Andreyevna wanted to, she could turn my head in a day… But that's not love, that's not affection… [Covers his eyes with a hand and shudders.] (2.354-60)
Astrov feels like his love machine's gotten rusty from disuse, and while it's trying to kick into gear now that he's feeling butterflies over Yelena, it's been out of commission for so long that it might not turn over. The problem is that Astrov isn't able to recognize that his feelings might be love. He'd rather call them lust and continue to ignore them.
Quote #9
SONYA: [...] Tell me, Mikhail Lvovich… If I had a friend or a younger sister and if you learnt that she… well, let's say, loved you, how would you react to that?
ASTROV: [shrugging] I don't know. I suppose, not at all. I would let her know that I could not love her… (2.366-70)
Admit it; you've tried the "I've got this friend (and it isn't me!) who needs some advice…" shtick, and everyone saw right through it. Sonya's doing everything she can to show Astrov that she's into him, and even this lame "friend or younger sister" line doesn't get through to him. It's time for her to read He's Just Not That Into You.