Inspirational Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky

“I shall go on in the same way, losing my temper with Ivan the coachman, falling into angry discussions, expressing my opinions tactlessly; there will be still the same wall between the holy of holies of my soul and other people, even my wife; I shall still go on scolding her for my own terror, and being remorseful for it; I shall still be as unable to understand with my reason why I pray, and I shall still go on praying; but my life now, my whole life apart from anything that can happen to me, every minute of it is no more meaningless, as it was before, but it has the positive meaning of goodness, which I have the power to put into it.”

“He was fond of angling, and seemed proud of being able to like such a stupid occupation.”

“He had never thought the question over clearly, but vaguely imagined that his wife had long suspected him of being unfaithful to her and was looking the other way. It even seemed to him that she, a worn-out, aged, no longer beautiful woman, not remarkable for anything, simple, merely a kind mother of a family, ought in all fairness to be indulgent. It turned out to be quite the opposite.”

“You have a consistent character yourself and you wish all the facts of life to be consistent, but they never are. For instance you despise public service because you want work always to correspond to its aims, and that never happens. You also want the activity of each separate man to have an aim, and love and family life always to coincide––and that doesn't happen either. All the variety, charm and beauty of life are made up of light and shade.”

“She felt as though everything were beginning to be double in her soul, just as objects sometimes appear double to over-tired eyes. She hardly knew at times what it was she feared, and what she hoped for. Whether she feared or desired what had happened, or what was going to happen, and exactly what she longed for, she could not have said.”

“My friends, ask gladness from God. Be glad as children, as birds in the sky. And let man's sin not disturb you in your efforts, do not feat that it will dampen your endeavor and keep it from being fulfilled, do not say, "Sin is strong, impiety is strong, the bad environment is strong, and we are lonely and powerless, the bad environment will dampen us and keep our good endeavor from being fulfilled." Flee from such despondency, my children! There is only one salvation for you: take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for the sins of men.”

“It's like this,' began the elder. 'All these sentences of hard labour in Siberian prisons, and formerly with flogging, too, do not reform anyone and, what's more, scarcely deter even one criminal, and, far from diminishing, the number of crimes are steadily increasing. You have to admit that. It therefore follows that society is not in the least protected, for though a harmful member is cut off automatically and exiled to some remote spot just to get rid of him, another criminal takes his place at once, and often, two, perhaps. If anything does protect society even today and indeed reforms the criminal himself and brings about his regeneration, it is, again, only the law of Christ, which reveals itself in the awareness of one's own consciousness. Only by recognizing his own guilt as a son of a Christian society, that is, of the Church, does the criminal recognize his guilt towards society itself, that is, towards the Church. The criminal today, therefore, is capable of recognizing his guilt only towards the Church, and not towards the State.”

“Truly,' I answered him, 'all things are good and fair, because all is truth. Look,' said I, 'at the horse, that great beast that is so near to man; or the lowly, pensive ox, which feeds him and works for him; look at their faces, what meekness, what devotion to man, who often beats them mercilessly. What gentleness, what confidence and what beauty! It's touching to know that there's no sin in them, for all, all except man, is sinless, and Christ has been with them before us.”

“‎TOM!" No answer. "TOM!" No answer. "What's gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!" No answer. The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked THROUGH them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for "style," not service-- she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well.”

“«Capita d'incontrare persone, anche a noi totalmente sconosciute, che ci cominciano ad interessare fin dal primo sguardo, per così dire di colpo, prima che abbiano detto una parola»”

“His eagerness had turned into a routine; he embraced her at the same time every day. It was a habit like any other, a favourite pudding after the monotony of dinner.”

“هكذا حال النفوس الرومانسية دائماً , تظل حتى آخر لحظة تزين الناس بريش الطاووس , تظل حتى آخر لحظة تفترض الخير لا الشر, و رغم تصورها وجود الشر فإنها لا يمكنها ان تعترف بذلك لنفسها بأي حال من الأحوال , ان تصور هذا وحده يصدمها و يهزها هزاَ قوياً. فهي بيدها تحجب وجهها حتى لا ترى الحقيقة, إلى ان يأتي الانسانالذي زينته بريش ملون من خيالها فيصفع وجهها و يدمي أنفها بيدع نفسها !”

“But I tell you what it is; an honest and sensitive man is open; and a business man 'listens and goes on eating' you up.”

“دعوني، دعوني وحيدا! ذلك ما كنت قد قررته. وقد قررته واعيا كل الوعي مدركا كل الادراك! .. أريد أن أكون وحيدا مهما يحدث لي، سواء أهلكت أم لم أهلك! انسوني نسيانا تاما، ذلكم أفضل ... لا تسألوا عني، لا تستطلعوا أخباري. سوف أجيء من تلقاء نفسي متى وجب أن أجيء ... أو سوف أدعوكم إلي. ولعل كل شيء سيبعث بعثا جديدا حينذاك. أما الان فاعدلوا عن لقائي إذا كنتم تحبونني، وإلا شعرت نحوكم بكره وبغض. إنني أحس بهذا ... وداعا!”

“It was a wonderful night, such a night as is only possible when we are young, dear reader. The sky was so starry, so bright that, looking at it, one could not help asking oneself whether ill-humoured and capricious people could live under such a sky. That is a youthful question too, dear reader, very youthful, but may the Lord put it more frequently into your heart!”

“The most basic, most rudimentary spiritual need of the Russian people is the need for suffering, ever-present and unquenchable, everywhere and in everything.”

“Do you know to what a point of insanity a woman can sometimes love?”

“My wretched passions were acute, smarting, from my continual, sickly irritability I had hysterical impulses, with tears and convulsions. I had no resource except reading, that is, there was nothing in my surroundings which I could respect and which attracted me. I was overwhelmed with depression, too; I had an hysterical craving for incongruity and for contrast, and so I took to vice.”

“They understood nothing, none of life's realities, and, I swear to you, this was what made me most indignant.”

“I should like to know what people fear the most: whatever is contrary to their usual habits, I imagine.”