Inspirational Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Afterward I could not help admiring the discrimination of the host and hostess in the distribution of the children’s presents. The little girl, who had already a portion of three hundred thousand rubles, received the costliest doll. Then followed presents diminishing in value in accordance with the rank of the parents of these happy children; finally, the child of lowest degree, a thin, freckled, red-haired little boy of ten, got nothing but a book of stories about the marvels of nature and tears of devotion, etc., without pictures or even woodcuts. He was the son of a poor widow, the governess of the children of the house, an oppressed and scared little boy. He was dressed in a short jacket of inferior nankeen. After receiving his book he walked around the other toys for a long time; he longed to play with the other children, but did not dare; it was evident that he already felt and understood his position. I”

“Después me fui al lado de mi madre, y pasando mis brazos alrededor de su talle, como me había gustado siempre tanto hacer, apoyé mi mejilla en su hombro, y una vez mas sus hermosos cabellos cayeron sobre mí, «como las alas de un ángel»; me gusta pensar cuando me acuerdo de ello. ¡Qué feliz era!”

“no matter how much people may grieve by day, they can put up with it so long as they can sleep at night, for when the eyes are closed in slumber people forget good and ill alike; whereas my misery haunts me even in my dreams.”

“-¡Oh! Dios mío, sí -dijo Montecristo-, no hago secreto de ello, es una mezcla de un excelente opio que he ido a buscar yo mismo a Cantón, para estar seguro de obtenerlo puro, y del mejor hachís que se cosecha en Oriente, es decir, entre el Tigris y el Eufrates. Se reúnen estos dos ingredientes en proporciones iguales y se hace una especie de píldoras, que se tragan cuando hay necesidad.”

“the more intensely he thought, the clearer it became to him that it was indubitably so, that in reality, looking upon life, he had forgotten one little fact—that death will come, and all ends; that nothing was even worth beginning”

“- Belki öyledir. Ama ne dersen de, şu anda ikimizin, karnımızın doymasını geciktirmek için istiridye yememiz de tuhafıma gidiyor. Oysa köyde biz, işimizi yapacak gücü kazanmak için bir an önce karnımızı doyurmaya çalışırız... Stepan Arkadyeviç sözünü kesti: - Elbette öyle, karnımızın doymasını geciktirmek istiyoruz. Ama kültürün amacı da her şeyden zevk almanın yollarını araştırmak değil midir? - Kültürün amacı bu ise bir yabani olmayı yeğlerim.”

“But what makes you suppose so?" "I don't suppose; I know. We have eyes for such things, though women-folk haven't.”

“Stepán Arkádich había podido permanecer sereno pensando en su mujer, había podido esperar que todo se arreglara, como decía Matvièi, había podido leer el diario tranquilamente y tomar su café, pero cuando vio aquel semblante descompuesto por el sufrimiento, cuando oyó aquel grito desesperado y rendido frente al destino, se le paró la respiración como si algo le obstruyera la garganta y sus ojos se llenaron de lágrimas.”

“The whole ball, the whole world, everything was covered with mist in Kitty's soul.”

“Todas las familias felices se parecen unas a otras; pero cada familia infeliz tiene un motivo especial para sentirse desgraciada.”

“Kitty did in fact conceal her new views and feelings from her mother. She concealed them not because she did not respect or did not love her mother, but simply because she was her mother. She would have revealed them to anyone sooner than to her mother.”

“all this and much more that was done in their mysterious world he did not understand, but he was sure that everything that was done there was very good, and he was in love precisely with the mystery of the proceedings.”

“Forgive me for reminding you of myself.”

“Of one's soul's salvation we all know and must think before all else,”

“Una idea justa no puede ser estéril”

“kneaded this social dough”

“El hombre selecciona solamente para su propio bien; la Naturaleza lo hace sólo para el bien del ser que tiene a su cuidado. La Naturaleza hace funcionar plenamente todo carácter seleccionado, como lo implica el hecho de su selección.”

“Aquel amable Sviajsky, que sostenía opiniones sólo para uso ge neral y que, evidentemente, poseía otros fundamentos de vida, ocultos para Levin, formaba parte de una innumerable legión de gente que dirigía la opinión pública mediante ideas que no sen tían.”

“What do they want to argue for? No one ever convinces anyone, you know.”

“The people are at such a low stage of rational and moral development, that it's obvious they're bound to oppose everything that's strange to them. In Europe, a rational system answers because the people are educated; it follows that we must educate the people—that's all.”