Dostoevsky quotes

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.

To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.

It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them—the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas.

A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens, but how it treats its criminals.

To love someone means to see them as God intended them.

The soul is healed by being with children.

The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness.

To live without hope is to cease to live.

Above all, don’t lie to yourself.

Man is a mystery: if you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out, then do not say you have wasted your time. I occupy myself with this mystery because I want to be a man.

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

The secret of man’s being is not only to live, but to have something to live for.

Every ant knows the formula of its ant-hill, every bee knows the formula of its beehive. They know it in their own way, not in our human way. Only humankind does not know its own formula.

Fear is simply the consequence of every lie.

Dostoevsky quotes part 2

The soul is healed by being with children.

The darker the night, the brighter the stars.

The more a man knows, the more he forgives.

There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it.

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

Without a firm idea of himself and the purpose of his life, man cannot live even if surrounded by bread.

Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness.

To be too conscious is an illness. A real thoroughgoing illness.

The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.

Lack of originality, everywhere, all over the world, from time immemorial, has always been considered the foremost quality and the recommendation of the active, efficient and practical man.

Faith is not born from miracles but miracles from faith.

They speak of duty, conscience – I have heard those words myself, yes, I have, but as a happy person, an impudent person, for whom a certain sum of money brings his heart’s desire. One need not know one duty, you must only do that for which you conscience allows.

It seems that the more he detests the human race, the more ardent is his love for his dog.

If you want to overcome the whole world, overcome your own self.

Being acutely aware of others’ thoughts does not make one happy.

To love someone means to see them as God intended them.

I suffer therefore I am.

A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens, but how it treats its criminals.

Man is fond of reckoning up his troubles, but does not count his joys.

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms. It’s by talking nonsense that one gets to the truth!

A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens, but how it treats its criminals.

If a person knows that he will die in a half hour, he certainly will not bother doing trivial, stupid, or, especially, bad things during this half hour.

What seems bad to one looks good to another; what is envied by one is scorned by another because everyone wants something different out of life.

Beauty is a terrible and awful thing! It is terrible because it has not been fathomed and never can be fathomed, for God sets us nothing but riddles.

A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.

To a resolute mind, wishing to do is the same as doing.

A real gentleman, even if he loses everything he owns, must show no emotion. Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about.

Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.

I can see the sun, but even though I can see it, I cannot see it.

We love people more for their faults than for their good qualities.

A true gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.

The soul is healed by being with children.

It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.