Fyodor Dostoyevsky Quotes

There are bookish dreams here, sir, there is a heart chafed by theories;

There are situations in life which bring the impartial observer to the conclusion that suicide is a luxury which is within the reach of, and permissible to, wealthy people.

There are three Powers, three unique Forces upon earth, capable of conquering for ever by charming the conscience of these weak rebels--men--for their own good; and these Forces are: Miracle, Mystery...

There exists no greater or more painful anxiety for a man who has freed himself from all religious bias, than how he shall soonest find a new object or idea to worship. But man seeks to bow before tha...

There is a great and unresolved thought in him. He's one of those who don't need millions, but need to resolve their thought.

There is a remarkable picture called 'Contemplation.' It shows a forest in winter and on a roadway through the forest, in absolute solitude, stands a peasant in a torn kaftan and bark shoes. he stands...

There is no doubt that these legendary gentlemen were capable of experiencing, even to an intense degree, the sensation of fear--otherwise they would have been much calmer, and would ot have made the...

There is no sin, and there can be no sin on all the earth, which the Lord will not forgive to the truly repentant!

There is not and cannot be in the whole world such a sin that the Lord will not forgive one who truly repents of it. A man even cannot commit so great a sin as would exhaust God’s boundless love. How...

There is nothing in the world more difficult than candor, and nothing easier than flattery.

There is only one means of salvation, then take yourself and make yourself responsible for all men's sins, that is the truth, you know, friends, for as soon as you sincerely make yourself responsible...

There were rats in it, but Fyodor Pavlovich was not altogether angry with them:

These educated parents subjected the poor five-year old girl to every possible torture. They beat her, flogged her, kicked her, not knowing why themselves, until her whole body was nothing but bruises...

They have science, but science contains nothing that does not come through the senses. The spiritual world, the nobler side of man’s being, has been rejected altogether, banned as it were triumphantly...

They say that people standing on a height have an impulse to throw themselves down. I imagine that many suicides and murders have been committed simply because the revolver has been in the hand. It is...

They won't let me ... I can't be ... good!

Though the sleepy, myopic, and rather bald-pated figure reflected in the mirror was precisely of such insignificant quality as to arrest decidedly no one's exclusive attention at first sight, its owne...

Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen.

Thus a man will sometimes suffer half an hour of mortal fear with a robber, but once the knife is finally at his throat, even fear vanishes.

To consider freedom as directly dependent on the number of man’s requirements and the extent of their immediate satisfaction shows a twisted understanding of human nature, for such an interpretation o...