Inspirational Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky

“we must inevitably assume that the historian who judges Alexander will also after the lapse of some time turn out to be mistaken in his view of what is good for humanity.”

“Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship By J. W. von Goethe”

“The wood I walk in on this mild May day, with the young yellow-brown foliage of the oaks between me and the blue sky, the white star-flowers and the blue-eyed speedwell and the ground ivy at my feet, what grove of tropic palms, what strange ferns or splendid broad-petalled blossoms, could ever thrill such deep and delicate fibres within me as this home scene? These familiar flowers, these well-remembered bird-notes, this sky, with its fitful brightness, these furrowed and grassy fields, each with a sort of personality given to it by the capricious hedgerows,–such things as these are the mother-tongue of our imagination, the language that is laden with all the subtle, inextricable associations the fleeting hours of our childhood left behind them. Our delight in the sunshine on the deep-bladed grass to-day might be no more than the faint perception of wearied souls, if it were not for the sunshine and the grass in the far-off years which still live in us, and transform our perception into love.”

“They were a set of clever, strong-headed, lively geniuses, who saw well enough that the sum of our existence, divided by reason, never gives an integer number, but that a surprising fraction is always left behind.”

“let this little book be thy friend, if, owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou canst not find a dearer companion.”

“Then Marit laughed and said, — “He is the son of the houseman at Pladsen.” Oyvind had always known that he was a houseman’s son; but until now he had never realized it. It made him feel so very little, smaller than all the rest; in order to keep up he had to try and think of all that hitherto had made him happy and proud, from the coasting hill to each kind word. He thought, too, of his mother and his father, who were now sitting at home and thinking that he was having a good time, and he could scarcely hold back his tears”

“When a nation which has long groaned under the intolerable yoke of a tyrant rises at last and throws off its chains, do you call that weakness? The man who, to rescue his house from the flames, finds his physical strength redoubled, so that he lifts burdens with ease which in the absence of excitement he could scarcely move; he who under the rage of an insult attacks and puts to flight half a score of his enemies,—are such persons to be called weak? My good friend, if resistance be strength, how can the highest degree of resistance be a weakness?”

“God of heaven! and is this the destiny of man? Is he only happy before he has acquired his reason or after he has lost it?”

“Porque cuando a uno le ponen los cuernos con toda franqueza, como sucede en las uniones libres, se puede decir que no existen, ya que pierden toda su significación, e incluso el nombre de cuernos. Es más, en este caso, la mujer da a su compañero una prueba de estimación, ya que le considera incapaz de oponerse a su felicidad y lo bastante culto para no intentar vengarse del nuevo esposo… ¡El diablo me lleve… ! Yo me digo a veces que si me casase, si me uniese a una mujer, legal o libremente, que eso poco importa, y pasara el tiempo sin que mi mujer tuviera un amante, se lo llevaría yo mismo y le diría: «Amiga mía, te amo de veras, pero lo que más me importa es merecer tu estimación.» ¿Qué le parece? ¿Tengo razón o no la tengo?”

“He is so used to living a purely spiritual life that he cannot reconcile himself to realities, and, after all, Varenka is a reality!”

“Es una estupidez dejarse dominar por el pasado; es preciso luchar para vivir mejor, mucho mejor.”

“You must understand," said he, "it's not love. I've been in love, but it's not that. It's not my feeling, but a sort of force outside me has taken possession of me. I went away, you see, because I made up my mind that it could never be, you understand, as a happiness that does not come on earth; but I've struggled with myself, I see there's no living without it. And it must be settled.”

“Soon after the doctor, Dolly had arrived. She knew that there was to be a consultation that day, and though she was only just up after her confinement (she had another baby, a little girl, born at the end of the winter), though she had trouble and anxiety enough of her own, she had left her tiny baby and a sick child, to come and hear Kitty's fate, which was to be decided that day.”

“Above all, I wouldn’t want to prove anything, I simply want to live; to cause no evil to anyone but myself. I have that right haven’t I? - Anna Karenina, p.616”

“Ach, het is maar weinig, de dood!' dacht zij; 'ik ga wat slapen, en dan is alles uit!' Zij dronk een slok water en keerde zich naar de muur. Die afschuwelijke inktsmaak hield maar aan. 'Ik heb dorst!... O, wat heb ik een dorst!' zuchtte zij. 'Wat heb je toch?' vroeg Charles en reikte haar een glas aan. 'Niets!... Zet het raam open... Ik stik hier!' En zij kreeg plotseling zo'n aanval van misselijkheid dat zij nauwelijks tijd had om haar zakdoek onder haar kussen vandaan te halen. 'Neem hem mee!' zei ze haastig; 'gooi weg!' Hij stelde haar vragen; zij antwoordde niet. Ze bleef stil liggen, bang dat ze bij de minste beweging zou overgeven. Intussen voelde zij een ijzige kou optrekken van haar voeten naar haar hart. 'Ach, nu begint het!' mompelde zij.”

“D'abord sur les yeux, qui avaient tant convoité toutes les somptuosités terrestres ; puis sur les narines, friandes de brises tièdes et de senteurs amoureuses ; puis sur la bouche, qui s'était ouverte pour le mensonge, qui avait gémi d'orgueil et crié dans la luxure ; puis sur les mains, qui se délectaient aux contacts suaves, et enfin sur les plantes des pieds, si rapides autrefois quand elle courait à l'assouvissance de ses désirs et qui maintenant ne marcheraient plus.”

“C’était cette rêverie que l’on a sur ce qui ne reviendra plus, la lassitude qui vous prend après chaque fait accompli, cette douleur enfin que vous apportent l’interruption de tout mouvement accoutumé, la cessation brusque d’une vibration prolongée.”

“Alles eek haar gehuld in een zwart waas dat over het oppervlak van de dingen zweefde, en het verdriet trok zacht huilend door haar ziel, als de winterwind door een verlaten kasteel. Het was zo'n mijmeren waarin men verzinkt om wat nooit meer terugkomt, een matheid die ons telkens overvalt na een niet te herroepen daad, een smart ten slotte, veroorzaakt door het stokken van een vertrouwde beweging, door het abrupt stilvallen van een lang aangehouden trilling.”

“Everything was made bright by her. She was the smile that shed light on all around her.”

“El oro del entendimiento anda en España por los suelos, pero no deja de ser oro, por más que los poetas, como los Indios, vendan por una migaja de pan los puñados del oro de su corazón y de su frente.”