Fyodor Dostoevsky Quotes

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The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Escaping, Way, Prison

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A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and, in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal. And it all comes from lying - lying to others and to yourself.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Wisdom, Truth, Lying

"The Brothers Karamazov". Book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1879 - 1880.

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The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Lying, Alive, Criminal Mind

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2011). “The Brothers Karamazov”, p.440, Bantam Classics

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Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Inspirational, Sad, Pain

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (2014). “The 10 Greatest Books of All Time”, p.262, Google Publishing

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When I look back on my past and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul-then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Moving On, Heart, Past

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The darker the night, the brighter the stars, The deeper the grief, the closer is God!

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Good Night, God, Stars

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Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Truth, Honesty, Punishment

"Crime and Punishment". Book by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Part VI, Chapter 4, p. 471), 1866.

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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.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Love, Spiritual, Animal

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2015). “The Brothers Karamazov”, p.484, First Avenue Editions

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I gave up caring about anything, and all the problems disappeared.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Caring, Problem, Gave Up

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2016). “Short Stories”, p.185, Xist Publishing

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It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Unhappy, Paradise, Fool

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2017). “The Idiot (English French edition illustrated): L’Idiot (Anglais Français édition illustré)”, p.1139, Clap Publishing, LLC.

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Learning to love is hard and we pay dearly for it. It takes hard work and a long apprenticeship, for it is not just for a moment that we must learn to love, but forever.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Hard Work, Love Is, Long

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2003). “Brothers Karamazov”, p.428, Bantam Classics

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And so I ask myself: 'Where are your dreams?' And I shake my head and mutter: 'How the years go by!' And I ask myself again: 'What have you done with those years? Where have you buried your best moments? Have you really lived? Look,' I say to myself, 'how cold it is becoming all over the world!' And more years will pass and behind them will creep grim isolation. Tottering senility will come hobbling, leaning on a crutch, and behind these will come unrelieved boredom and despair. The world of fancies will fade, dreams will wilt and die and fall like autumn leaves from the trees. . . .

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dream, Fall, Autumn

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If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Confidence, Respect, Self Esteem

"The Insulted and the Injured". Book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1861.

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People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Men, Animal, People

"Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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Humanity can live without science, it can live without bread, but it cannot live without beauty. Without beauty, there would be nothing left to do in this life. Here the secret lies. Here lies the entire story.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Lying, Humanity, Secret

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If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man ... just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Laughter, Men, Laughing

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I am alone, I thought, and they are everybody.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Loneliness

"Personal Quotes/ Biography". www.imdb.com.

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What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Love, Life, Suffering

FYODOR MIKHAILOVICH DOSTOEVSKY (1952). “GREAT BOOKS OF THE WESTERN WORLD”

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If everything on earth were rational, nothing would happen.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Earth, Rational, Happens

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It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Life Changing, Intelligence, Crime And Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2012). “Crime and Punishment”, p.235, Vintage

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Don’t be overwise; fling yourself straight into life, without deliberation; don’t be afraid - the flood will bear you to the bank and set you safe on your feet again.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Feet, Bears, Safe

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (2014). “The 10 Greatest Books of All Time”, p.452, Google Publishing

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You are told a lot about your education, but some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood, is perhaps the best education of all. If a man carries many such memories into life with him, he is saved for the rest of his days. And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts, it may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Life, Beautiful, Memories

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Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Evil, Politics, Easier

"Personal Quotes/ Biography". www.imdb.com.

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I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Men, Thinking, Creating

1879-80 The Brothers Karamazov, bk.5, ch.4.

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The more you succeed in loving, the more you'll be convinced at the existence of God and the immortality of your soul.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Love, God, Soul

Fyodor Dostoevsky (2002). “The Brothers Karamazov: A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue”, p.56, Macmillan

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Born: November 11, 1821
Died: February 9, 1881
Occupation: Novelist
Cite this Page: Citation

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