I am a sick man...I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I think my liver is diseased. Then again, I don't know a thing about my illness; I'm not even sure what hurts. Fyodor Dostoevsky More Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky More Quotes From Fyodor Dostoevsky The essence of religious feeling does not come under any sort of reasoning or atheism, and has nothing to do with any crimes or misdemeanors. There is something else here, and there will always be something else - something that the atheists will for ever slur over; they will always be talking of something else. Fyodor Dostoevsky atheistreligioustalking The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular. Fyodor Dostoevsky deep-thoughthumanitymen I agree that two times two makes four is an excellent thing; but if we are dispensing praise, then two times two makes five is sometimes a most charming little thing as well. Fyodor Dostoevsky fourlittlestwo Yes, that's right... love should come before logic ... Only then will man come to understand the meaning of life. Fyodor Dostoevsky meaning-of-lifeinsightfulmen Generally speaking, our prisoners were capable of loving animals, and if they had been allowed they would have delighted to rear large numbers of domestic animals and birds in the prison. And I wonder what other activity could better have softened and refined their harsh and brutal natures than this. But it was not allowed. Neither the regulations nor the nature of the prison made it possible. Fyodor Dostoevsky numbersanimalbird In such situations, of course, people don't nurse their anger silently, they moan aloud; but these are not frank, straightforward moans, there is a kind of cunning malice in them, and that's the whole point. Those very moans express the sufferer's delectation; if he did not enjoy his moans, he wouldn't be moaning. Fyodor Dostoevsky kindnursepeople They won't let me ... I can't be ... good! Fyodor Dostoevsky let-mebe-goodi-can Shower on him every blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, give him economic prosperity such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes, and busy himself with the continuation of the species, and even then, out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick. Fyodor Dostoevsky blessingsleepmen In most cases, people, even wicked people, are far more naive and simple-hearted than one generally assumes. And so are we. Fyodor Dostoevsky wickedsimplepeople Life is paradise, and we are all in paradise, but we refuse to see it. Fyodor Dostoevsky paradiserefuselife-is It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender joy. Fyodor Dostoevsky bereavementgriefjoy Russians alone are able to combine so many opposites in themselves at one and the same time. Fyodor Dostoevsky ableopposites Whether one showed you and execution or a little finger, you would extract an equally edifying thought from both of them, and would still be content. That's the way to get on in life. Fyodor Dostoevsky executionlittlesway We're always thinking of eternity as an idea that cannot be understood, something immense. But why must it be? What if, instead of all this, you suddenly find just a little room there, something like a village bath-house, grimy, and spiders in every corner, and that's all eternity is. Sometimes, you know, I can't help feeling that that's what it is. Fyodor Dostoevsky houseideasthinking Is it really not possible to touch the gaming table without being instantly infected by superstition? Fyodor Dostoevsky gamblingsuperstitionstables The Russian soul is a dark place. Fyodor Dostoevsky dark-placessouldark The genuine realist, if he is an unbeliever, will always find strength and ability to disbelieve in the miraculous, and if he is confronted with a miracle as an irrefutable fact he would rather disbelieve his own senses than admit the miraculous also. Fyodor Dostoevsky realistmiraclefacts I am a fool with a heart but no brains, and you are a fool with brains but no heart; and we’re both unhappy, and we both suffer. Fyodor Dostoevsky sufferingbrainheart From harmony, from heavenly harmony, This universal frame began: From harmony to harmony Through all the compass of the notes it ran, The diapason closing full in Man. Fyodor Dostoevsky harmonycompassmen We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken. Fyodor Dostoevsky sightbookpeople
