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Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky Quotes

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Famous Fyodor Dostoevsky Quotes

“There are seconds, they come only five or six at a time, and you suddenly feel the presence of eternal harmony, fully achieved. It is nothing earthly; not that it’s heavenly, but man cannot endure it in his earthly state. One must change physically or die. The feeling is clear and indisputable. As if you suddenly sense the whole of nature and suddenly say: yes, this is true. God, when he was creating the world, said at the end of each day of creation: ‘Yes, this is true, this is good.’ This … this is not tenderheartedness, but simply joy. You don’t forgive anything, because there’s no longer anything to forgive. You don’t really love—oh, what is here is higher than love! What’s most frightening is that it’s so terribly clear, and there’s such joy. If it were longer than five seconds—the soul couldn’t endure it and would vanish. In those five seconds I live my life through, and for them I would give my whole life, because it’s worth it.”

LoveLifeDeathJoyPossessionDemonsFyodor DostoevskyThe PossessedEternal Harmony
Book:Demons
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“Car peu d'entre nous savent ce qu'il peut y avoir d'infiniment patient, de commisération et d'indulgence sans bornes dans certains coeurs féminins. D'immenses trésors de sympathie, de consolation, d'espérance reposent dans ces coeurs purs, si souvent blessés eux aussi, car un coeur qui aime beaucoup souffre beaucoup, mais qui dissimulent soigneusement leur blessure aux regards indiscrets, car le chagrin profond le plus souvent se tait et se cache.”

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Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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“I am leaving now; but know, Katerina Ivanovna, that you indeed love only him. And the more he insults you, the more you love him. That is your strain. You precisely love him as he is, you love him insulting you. If he reformed, you would drop him at once and stop loving him altogether. But you need him in order to continually contemplate your high deed of faithfulness, and to reproach him for his unfaithfulness. And it all comes from your pride. Oh, there is much humility and humiliation in it, but all of it comes from pride.”

LovePrideHonorDignityYouthfulnessExtreme HaughtinessExtreme Pride
Book:The Brothers Karamazov
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“This strong and rough man, whose feathers were constantly being ruffled, had suddenly softened and brightened. Something unusual and entirely unexpected had begun to stir in his soul. Three years of separation, three years of a broken marriage had dislodged nothing from his heart. And perhaps every day of those three years he had dreamed of her, of the beloved being who had once said 'I love you' to him. Knowing Shatov, I can say for certain that he would never have allowed himself even to dream that any woman could say 'I love you' to him. He was fiercely chaste and modest, regarded himself as a dreadful freak, hated his own face and character, compared himself to some monster who was fit only to be taken around and exhibited at fairs. As a consequence of all this, he valued honesty above all things and dedicated himself to his convictions to the point of fanaticism; he was sullen, proud, quick to anger and sparing with words.”

LovePsychologyEmotionalLongingConvictionVulnerabilityModestyIntrospectionLiteraryCharacter Study
Book:Demons
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“This strong and rough man, whose feathers were constantly being ruffled, had suddenly softened and brightened. Something unusual and entirely unexpected had begun to stir in his soul. Three years of separation, three years of a broken marriage had dislodged nothing from his heart. And perhaps every day of those three years he had dreamed of her, of the beloved being who had once said 'I love you' to him. Knowing Shatov, I can say for certain that he would never have allowed himself even to dream that any woman could say 'I love you' to him. He was fiercely chaste and modest, regarded himself as a dreadful freak, hated his own face and character, compared himself to some monster who was fit only to be taken around and exhibited at fairs. As a consequence of all this, he valued honesty above all things and dedicated himself to his convictions to the point of fanaticism; he was sullen, proud, quick to anger and sparing with words. But now this single being who had loved him for two weeks (he had always, always believed that!), this being whom he had always regarded as immeasurably superior to himself despite his utterly sober understanding of her faults; this being whom he could forgive everything, everything (of which there really true, so that in his eyes he himself was guilty of everything could be absolutely no before her), this woman, this Marya Shatova, was suddenly question, for just the opposite was actual again in his house, before him again... this was almost impossible to understand!”

LovePsychologyEmotionalLongingConvictionVulnerabilityModestyIntrospectionLiteraryCharacter Study
Book:Demons
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“And, my God, was it really not she he met later, far from the shores of their homeland, under an alien sky, in the torrid South, in the marvellous Eternal City, in the brilliance of a ball, to the thunder of music, in a palazzo (it absolutely must be a palazzo), drowned in a sea of lights, on this balcony, wreathed with myrtle and roses, where she, upon recognising him, so hastily took off her mask and whispered: "I am free", and trembling, threw herself into his arms, and with a cry of rapture, they embraced, and in an instant they forgot sorrow, separation, all their torments, the gloomy house, the old man, the dismal garden in their distant homeland, the bench on which, with one last passionate kiss, she had torn herself away from his arms, numb from torments of despair?”

LoveTravelHometown
Book:White Nights
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“Thou didst not come down from the cross when they shouted to Thee, mocking and reviling Thee, "Come down from the cross and we will believe that Thou art He." Thou didst not come down, for again Thou wouldst not enslave man by a miracle. Thou didst crave faith given freely, not based on a miracle. Thou didst crave for free love and not the base raptures of the slave before the might that has overawed him for ever.”

LoveGodFaithCatholicismPiety
Book:The Grand Inquisitor
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“Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering.”

MenLoveSometimesSufferingHuman NatureSentimentalNotes From The Underground
Book:The Greatest Works of Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment + The Brother's Karamazov + The Idiot + Notes from Underground + The Gambler + Demons (The Possessed / The Devils)
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“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”

MenLoveLifeSelfTruthLyingLosesConsciousnessRespectCeaseSelf RespectHuman ExperienceSelf DeceptionRespecting OthersDisrespectBe True To YourselfLove And RespectNo RespectRespect YourselfNew Years ResolutionDon't LieRespect WomenLove RespectRespect PeopleBrothers KaramazovTrust And RespectI Don't LieLiving A LieSelf Respect In LoveLying To YourselfSelf Respect And LoveWomen Self RespectLost Respect
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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“Love all God’s creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of light. Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing. If thou love each thing thou wilt perceive the mystery of God in all; and when once thou perceive this, thou wilt thenceforward grow every day to a fuller understanding of it: until thou come at last to love the whole world with a love that will then be all-embracing and universal.”

IfsWorldLoveWholeLightLastsGrowsUnderstandingAnimalMysteryCreationUniversalPlantWhole WorldPerceiveSandRaysGrainLeafsAnimal LoveGrains Of SandGod's CreationRays Of LightMystery Of God
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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“... active love is a harsh and fearful thing compared with the love in dreams. Love in dreams thirsts for immediate action, quickly performed, and with everyone watching. Indeed, it will go as far as the giving even of one's life, provided it does not take long but is soon over, as on stage, and eveyone is looking on and praising. Whereas active love is labor and persistence, and for some people, perhaps, a whole science.”

PeopleLoveGivingLongDoeWholeDreamActionLove IsStageLaborPraiseActivePersistenceFearfulHarshThirstImmediate Action
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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“Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”

IfsWorldLoveWholeLastsSpiritualSpiritualityAnimalMysteryDivinePlantWhole WorldPerceivePetUnconditional LoveInspirational LoveAnimal LoveComprehendingBrothers KaramazovAbsolute LoveEmbracing Love
Book:The Brothers Karamazov
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“Love animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble their joy, don't harrass them, don't deprive them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to animals; they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you - alas, it is true of almost every one of us!”

MenLoveEarthJoyGivenNatureReligiousWorkSinAnimalTroubleGreatnessPrideAppearanceVegetarianVeganSuperiorityAlasVegetarianismAnimal Love
Book:The Brothers Karamazov (English Russian Edition illustrated): Братья Карамазовы (англо-русская редакция иллюстрированная)
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“You pass by a little child, you pass by, spiteful, with ugly words, with wrathful heart; you may not have noticed the child, but he has seen you, and your image, unseemly and ignoble, may remain in his defenseless heart. You don't know it, but you may have sown an evil seed in him and it may grow, and all because you were not careful before the child, because you did not foster in yourself a careful, actively benevolent love.”

KnowsLoveHeartMayChildrenLittlesAgeEvilGrowsCarefulUglySeedsBenevolentDefenselessIgnobleSpiteful
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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“You know, my boy, he said, it's impossible to love men such as they are. And yet we must. So try to do good to men by doing violence to your feelings, holding your nose, and shutting your eyes, especially shutting your eyes. Endure their villainy without anger, as much as possible; try to remember that you're a man too. For, if you're even a little above average intelligence, you'll have the propensity to judge people severely. Men are vile by nature and they'd rather love out of fear. Don't give in to such love: despise it always.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMenLoveGivingTryingLittlesSaidFeelingsEyeAgeRememberBoysViolenceImpossibleJudgingEndureAverageNosesDespisePropensityMy BoysVillainyAbove Average
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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