WIST Quotations

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- “Celebrating a Lie”

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
“Celebrating a Lie”

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- “Critical Articles: Introduction,” Complete Collected Works (1895)

Dave — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 01:13:33 +0000

A just cause is not ruined by a few mistakes.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
“Critical Articles: Introduction,” Complete Collected Works (1895)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

But men love abstract reasoning and neat systematization so much that they think nothing of distorting the truth, closing their eyes and ears to contrary evidence to preserve their logical constructions.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
(Attributed)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 12:38:42 +0000

Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
(Attributed)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:55:08 +0000

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

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
(Attributed)

Sometimes cited to Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead (1862) [tr. Garnett (1957)], which is a semi-autobiographical work about a Siberian prison camp, but the quotation cannot be found there.

See also Buck, Johnson.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- Crime and Punishment, 1.1 (1866)

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:56:23 +0000

Everything is in our own hands; only through sheer cowardice will it slip through our fingers.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Crime and Punishment, 1.1 (1866)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- Diary of a Writer (1877)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Originality and the feeling of one’s own dignity are achieved only through work and struggle.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Diary of a Writer (1877)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- Notes from the Underground (1864)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Every man has some reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has others which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But finally there are still others which a man is even afraid to tell himself, and every decent man has a considerable number of such things stored away. That is, one can even say that the more decent he is, the greater the number of such things in his mind.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Notes from the Underground (1864)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- Notes from the Underground (1864)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is ready to distort the truth intentionally, he is ready to deny the evidence of his senses only to justify his logic.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Notes from the Underground (1864)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- Notes from Underground, 1.1 (1864) [tr. Matlaw (1960)]

Dave — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:59:20 +0000

I am forty years old now, and forty years, after all, is a whole lifetime; after all, that is extremely old age. To live longer than forty years is bad manners; it is vulgar, immoral.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Notes from Underground, 1.1 (1864) [tr. Matlaw (1960)]

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- The Brothers Karamazov, Part 2, book 5, ch. 4 [Ivan] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dave — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:57:11 +0000

“Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature — that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance — and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth.”
“No, I wouldn’t consent,” said Alyosha softly.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
The Brothers Karamazov, Part 2, book 5, ch. 4 [Ivan] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- The Brothers Karamazov, 2.3 [Fr. Zossima] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dave — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:39:52 +0000

There is no sin and there can be no sin on all the earth, which the Lord will not forgive to the truly repentant! Man cannot commit a sin so great as to exhaust the infinite love of God.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
The Brothers Karamazov, 2.3 [Fr. Zossima] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- The Brothers Karamazov, 5.5 [Grand Inquisitor] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dave — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:48:54 +0000

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

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
The Brothers Karamazov, 5.5 [Grand Inquisitor] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- The Brothers Karamazov, 6.2(f) [Father Zossima] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:54:16 +0000

How many ideas have there been in the history of man which were unthinkable ten years before they appeared?

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
The Brothers Karamazov, 6.2(f) [Father Zossima] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)]

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- The Idiot, Part 3, ch. 3 (1869) [tr. Martin (1915)]

Dave — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 20:42:24 +0000

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 Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
The Idiot, Part 3, ch. 3 (1869) [tr. Martin (1915)]
(Source)

Alternate translation: "Don't let us forget that the motives of human actions are usually infinitely more complex and varied than we are apt to explain them afterwards, and can rarely be defined with certainty." [tr. Magarshack (1955)]