Inspirational Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Then I used to lock myself in my room, or go to the end of the garden, climb on to the ruin of a high stone greenhouse and, dangling my legs from the wall which looked out on the road, would sit for hours, staring and staring, seeing nothing. Near me, over the dusty nettles, white butterflies fluttered lazily. A pert little sparrow would fly down on to a half-broken red brick nearby, and would irritate me with its chirping, ceaselessly turning its whole body with its outspread tail; the crows, still wary, occasionally cawed, sitting high, high on the bare top of a birch -- while the sun and wind played gently in its spreading branches; the bells of the Donskoy monastery would sometimes float across -- tranquil and sad -- and I would sit and gaze and listen, and would be filled with a nameless sensation which had everything in it; sorrow and joy, a premonition of the future, and desire, and fear of life. At the time, I understood none of this, and could not have given a name to any of the feelings which seethed within me; or else I would have called it all by one name – the name of Zinaida.”

“A ako patnje djece samo popunjavaju onu količinu patnje koja je bila potrebna da se otkupi istina, onda unaprijed tvrdim da sva istina ne vrijedi toga...Ja ne želim harmoniju, ne želim je iz ljubavi prema čovječanstvu. Radije ću ostati sa svojim neosvećenim patnjama. Radije ću ostati na svojoj neosvećenoj patnji i na svom neiskaljenom ogorčenju, makar i ne bio u pravu. Pa i previsoku su cijenu odredili toj harmoniji, nije za naš džep tolika ulaznica. I zato hitam da vratim svoju ulaznicu. Ako sam pošten čovjek, dužan sam je što prije vratiti. To upravo i činim. Nije da ja Boga ne priznajem, Aljoša, nego mu samo najponiznije vraćam ulaznicu.”

“At the dawn of my days, when still a little child, I had an older brother who died in his youth, before my eyes, being only seventeen years old. And later, making my way through life, I gradually came to see that this brother was, as it were, a pointer and a destination from above in my fate, for if he had not appeared in my life, if he had not been at all, then never, perhaps, as I think, would I have entered monastic orders and set out upon this precious path. That first appearance was still in my childhood, and now, on the decline of my path, a repetition of him, as it were, appeared before my eyes.”

“There is a good deal of posturing here, of romantic frenzy, of wild Karamazovian unrestraint and sentimentality—yes, and also something else, gentlemen of the jury, something that cries out in the soul, that throbs incessantly in his mind, and poisons his heart unto death; this something is conscience, gentlemen of the jury, the judgment, the terrible pangs of conscience!”

“I rejoice in what I have, and don't fret for what I haven't,”

“وإذا هاجتِ الأحزان في قلب امرئٍ وتألّبت المحن، أضحى أحيانًا خسيسًا لا يرى إلا السيئات والنقائص، أما الفضائل فتصبح كالقذى في عينه كلما لمسها في غيره.”

“For, having begun to build their Tower of Babel without us, they will end in anthropophagy. And it is then that the beast will come crawling to us and lick our feet and spatter them with tears of blood from its eyes. And we shall sit upon the beast and raise the cup, and on it will be written: "Mystery!”

“When you choose an elder, you renounce your own will and yield it to him in complete submission, complete”

“Que tu actividad sea continua. Si por la noche, antes de dormirte, te acuerdas de que has dejado de cumplir algún deber, levántate en el acto y cúmplelo. Si los que te rodean se niegan a escucharte, por malicia o por indiferencia, arrodíllate y pídeles perdón, pues en realidad tuya es la culpa de que no quieran escucharte. Si se niegan a oírte los irascibles, sírvelos en silencio y humildemente, sin perder jamás la esperanza. Si todos se apartan de ti y algunos te rechazan con violencia, permanece solo, arrodíllate, besa la tierra, riégala con tus lágrimas, aunque nadie te vea ni te oiga. Estas lágrimas darán fruto.”

“Există firi sensibile şi de o netăgăduită delicatețe, care preferă totuşi cu îndărătnicie, cu o pudică râvnă, să nu-şi deschidă sufletul nici celei mai scumpe ființe, să nu-şi dezvăluie dragostea şi gingăşia nu numai în fața altora, dar nici măcar atunci când se află singure, între patru ochi : dimpotrivă, adeseori într-o asemenea intimitate ele devin mai stăpânite, lăsând doar arareori să apară la suprafaţă toată gingăşia sentimentelor lor, şi-atunci sentimentele acelea răbufnesc, se revarsă cu atât mai puternice cu cât mai îndelung au fost reținute.”

“Perezvon (the dog) ran about in the wildest spirits, sniffing about first one side, then the other. When he met other dogs they zealously smelt each other over according to the rules of canine etiquette.”

“The door from the next room suddenly opened with a timid, quiet creak, as if tghus aannouncing the entrance of a very insignificant person...”

“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at the opposite end of the ground. There was apparently nothing striking either in her dress or her attitude. But for Levin she was as easy to find in that crowd, as a rose among nettles. Everything was made bright by her... The place where she stood seemed to him a holy shrine, unapproachable, and there was one moment when he was almost retreating, so overwhelmed was he with terror... He walked down, for a long while avoiding looking at her as at the sun, but seeing her, as one does the sun, without looking.”

“And now, when the shades of evening begin to steal over my life, what have I left fresher, more precious, than the memories of the storm—so soon over—of early morning, of spring?”

“Možda je tada samo po snazi svojih želja i ocijenio sebe kao čovjeka kome je dozvoljeno više nego drugima.”

“I certainly was in some uneasiness. I was, of course, not accustomed to society of any kind. At school I had been on familiar terms with my schoolfellows, but I was scarcely friends with anyone; I made a little corner for myself and lived in it. But this was not what disturbed me. In any case I vowed not to let myself be drawn into argument and to say nothing beyond what was necessary, so that no one could draw any conclusions about me; above all—to avoid argument.”

“Виж какво, гълъбче, ще ти кажа откровено и просто: всеки порядъчен човек трябва да бъде под чехъла на някоя жена.”

“Oh, God and all the rest of it.” “What, don’t you believe in God?” “Oh, I’ve nothing against God. Of course, God is only a hypothesis, but . . . I admit that He is needed . . . for the order of the universe and all that . . . and that if there were no God He would have to be invented,” added Kolya, beginning to blush.”

“It’s your rich life,” Alyosha said softly. “Why, is it better to be poor?” “Yes, it is.”

“el socialismo no es sólo una doctrina obrera, sino que representa el ateísmo en su forma contemporánea;”