"I love mankind," he said, "but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular." Fyodor Dostoevsky More Quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky More Quotes From Fyodor Dostoevsky There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it. Fyodor Dostoevsky deep-thoughtworkoutnew-relationship Times of crisis, of disruption or constructive change, are not only predictable, but desirable. They mean growth. Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most. Fyodor Dostoevsky inspirationalmeanpeople There is immeasurably more left inside than what comes out in words. Your thought, even a bad one, while it is with you, is always more profound, but in words it is more ridiculous and dishonorable. Fyodor Dostoevsky ridiculousleftprofound Anyone who can appease a man's conscience can take his freedom away from him. Fyodor Dostoevsky appeaseconsciencemen Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and praise God in your loneliness. Fyodor Dostoevsky lonelinessmenbelieve If you happen to have a wart on your nose or forehead, you cannot help imagining that no one in the world has anything else to do but stare at your wart, laugh at it, and condemn you for it, even though you have discovered America. Fyodor Dostoevsky noseslaughingamerica Even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for hitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardour of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old. Fyodor Dostoevsky christianheartjesus To cook your hare you must first catch it. Fyodor Dostoevsky harescookingfirsts If there were no God, he would have to be invented. Fyodor Dostoevsky brothers-karamazovdeep-thoughtifs All of a sudden I became aware of a little star in one of those patches and I began looking at it intently. That was because the little star gave me an idea: I made up my mind to kill myself that night. I had made up my mind to kill myself already two months before and, poor as I am, I bought myself an excellent revolver and loaded it the same day. But two months had elapsed and it was still lying in the drawer. I was so utterly indifferent to everything that I was anxious to wait for the moment when I would not be so indifferent and then kill myself. Why -- I don't know. Fyodor Dostoevsky starsnightlying We must never forget that human motives are generally far more complicated than we are apt to suppose, and that we can very rarely accurately describe the motives of another. Fyodor Dostoevsky motivenever-forgetcomplicated Nature doesn't ask your permission; it doesn't care about your wishes, or whether you like its laws or not. You're obliged to accept it as it is, and consequently all its results as well. Fyodor Dostoevsky carelawwish You know, my boy, he said, it's impossible to love men such as they are. And yet we must. So try to do good to men by doing violence to your feelings, holding your nose, and shutting your eyes, especially shutting your eyes. Endure their villainy without anger, as much as possible; try to remember that you're a man too. For, if you're even a little above average intelligence, you'll have the propensity to judge people severely. Men are vile by nature and they'd rather love out of fear. Don't give in to such love: despise it always. Fyodor Dostoevsky eyeloveboys They wanted to speak, but could not; tears stood in their eyes. They were both pale and thin; but those sick pale faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life. They were renewed by love; the heart of each held infinite sources of life for the heart of the other. Fyodor Dostoevsky sickeyeheart Was it all put into words, or did both understand that they had the same thing at heart and in their minds, so that there was no need to speak of it aloud, and better not to speak of it? Fyodor Dostoevsky understandingmindheart Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to the animals, for they are without sin, while you, with all your greatness, you defile the earth wherever you appear and leave an ignoble trail behind you -- and that is true, alas, for almost every one of us! Fyodor Dostoevsky greatnesspridemen We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast, vast! But why must it be vast? Fyodor Dostoevsky conceptionimagineeternity Right or wrong, it's very pleasant to break something from time to time. Fyodor Dostoevsky chaosdeep-thoughtbreak Beggars, especially noble beggars, should never show themselves in the street; they should ask for alms through the newspapers. It's still possible to love one's neighbor abstractly, and even occasionally from a distance, but hardly ever up close. Fyodor Dostoevsky neighbordistancenoble The greater the stupidity, the greater the clarity. Stupidity is brief and guileless, while wit equivocates and hides. Wit is a scoundrel, while stupidity is honest and sincere. Fyodor Dostoevsky clarityhoneststupidity
