Dostoevsky's classic quotes

 　　1. Yes, criminal behavior cannot be understood solely from the readily available perspective of the established facts of a crime; the philosophy of crime is far more profound than people imagine. Needless to say, prisons and forced labor cannot reform prisoners; they can only punish them, only ensure social order, and prevent further destruction by these criminals. Prisons and the heaviest hard labor only fuel hatred in prisoners' hearts, increasing their craving for forbidden comfort and pleasure, and fostering a terrifying recklessness. I firmly believe that this overpraised system of solitary confinement can only achieve hypocritical, deceptive, and superficial ends. It sucks the lifeblood from a person, ravages and terrifies the soul, weakens and withers it, and then presents this half-mad, spiritually mummy-like individual as a model of reform and repentance. Needless to say, criminals who rise up against society hate society; they almost always believe themselves innocent, and that society is guilty.

　　—*The House of the Dead*

　　2. Everyone kills. In this world, people kill now, and people killed in the past. Blood flows like waterfalls, like champagne. For this, some are crowned with laurels in temples, and later called the patrons of mankind.
　　—*Crime and Punishment*

　　3. The terrible thing is that these kinds of horrific things are no longer terrifying to us! That's the terrible thing. What's appalling is our indifference, not the individual crimes of one or two people! These kinds of cases, these characteristics of our times, foreshadow a bleak future, yet our attitude is so indifferent, so apathetic. What is the reason for this? Is it our cynicism? Is it that in our young yet prematurely aged society, wisdom and imagination have withered prematurely? Has our moral code been fundamentally shaken?
　　—*The Brothers Karamazov*

　　4. The world claims to be free, especially recently, but what do we see in their freedom? Only slavery and self-destruction! Because secular society says, "If you have desires, then satisfy them, for you have the same rights as the rich and powerful. Don't be afraid to satisfy your desires, and even have more desires"—this is what the world teaches today. Secular society considers this freedom. What consequences will this expanded right lead to? For the rich, it leads to isolation and spiritual self-destruction; for the poor, it leads to envy and murder, because the right has been given, but the way to satisfy desires has not been specified.
　　—The Brothers Karamazov

　　5. Hunting rare wild animals…mining gold…these are all risks. But they had a way; they found a rich mine! They could take from it inexhaustibly! They had already benefited! They were all used to it. They cried at first, but then they got used to it. Man is a despicable creature; he gets used to everything!
　　—Crime and Punishment

　　6. This is always the case with the beginning of anything new: many are enthusiastic at first, but soon they grow cold and give up. Because they have realized that it cannot be done without hard work, and only those who want to do it can endure the pain.

　　7. At first, I just felt less lonely; I started to get better quickly; later, I felt that every day was precious, and more precious as time went on, so I began to notice this. I felt satisfied when I lay down to sleep, and even happier when I woke up.
　　— *The Idiot*

　　8. Humans are such despicable creatures, they get used to everything.
　　— *Crime and Punishment*

　　9. For those with highly self-aware and profoundly insightful minds, pain and sorrow are essential qualities.

　　10. I've been thinking about one thing: whether I've been worthy of the suffering I've endured. What is suffering? Suffering should be soil; as long as you're willing to suppress all your inner feelings in this soil, it's very likely that unimaginably beautiful flowers will bloom.

　　11. "Why don't you curse me, but embrace me?" "Because there is no one more unhappy in the world than you."
　　— *Crime and Punishment*

　　12. A despicable soul, once freed from oppression, will oppress others.
　　— *The Storm on the Estate*

　　13. Most importantly, we should first be kind, secondly honest, and thirdly never forget each other.
　　Sometimes, when a man encounters a robber, he feels the fear of death for a full half hour, but finally, when the knife is to his throat, he fears nothing.
　　— *Crime and Punishment*

　　14. He who can disregard life and death becomes a new man. He who can conquer pain and fear becomes God himself.
　　— *Demons*

　　15. When you are poor, you can still maintain your innate noble sentiments, but when you are destitute, no one can do that at any time. For a penniless person, it is not even necessary to drive him out of human society with a stick, but to sweep him out with a broom, so that he is utterly disgraced and has nowhere to hide.
　　— *Crime and Punishment*

　　16. Man is unhappy because he does not know that he is happy.

　　17. God and the devil fight there, and the battlefield is in people's hearts.
　　— *The Brothers Karamazov*

　　18. Let bygones be bygones, sever all ties with the old world, never want to hear anything about it again, go to a new world, a new place, and never look back!
　　—The Brothers Karamazov

　　19. In realists, it is not miracles that produce faith, but faith that produces miracles.
　　—The Brothers Karamazov

　　20. Money is certainly a tyrannical power, and at the same time, the highest form of equality; its entire main power lies in this. Money will level all inequalities.
　　—The Boy

　　21. Crime is a protest against the abnormality of social organization.
　　—Crime and Punishment


　　22. Money is freedom forged.

　　23. What is better—cheap happiness or sublime suffering? You tell me, what is better?
　　—Notes from Underground

　　24. When we ourselves are unhappy, we feel more deeply the unhappiness of others; the tendency of emotion is not to disperse, but to concentrate…
　　—White Nights

　　25. I only want to prove one thing: that the devil tempted me then, and later told me that I had no right to take that path because I was just a louse, like all the others.
　　—Crime and Punishment

　　26. In most cases, people, even the wicked, are far more naive and innocent than we imagine. In fact, we ourselves are no different.
　　—The Brothers Karamazov

　　27. A person who lies to himself and listens to himself lie will reach a point where, even if there is truth in himself or around him, he cannot discern it, and the result will be neither self-respect nor respect for others. A person who is unreasonable to everyone and lacks love; who seeks amusement without love, is nothing more than indulging in lust, indulging in primal sensual pleasures, and completely degenerating into an animal in the mire of sin, and all of this begins with constantly lying to others and to himself. A person who lies to himself is most prone to resentment.
　　—From *The Brothers Karamazov*

　　28. Live honestly, don't have unrealistic dreams! Work honestly, and you will have a bright future.

　　29. A person's later life is made up of habits, and those habits are formed in the first half of their life.

　　30. Things are very simple; the whole secret to life can be summed up in two sentences: perseverance and persistence.

　　31. Alyosha exclaimed. "I believe that everyone in the world should first and foremost love life." "What is the meaning of loving life above all else?" "It must be so, as you said, to love beyond logic, it must be beyond logic, only then will I understand its meaning."
　　—The Brothers Karamazov

　　32. "I don't understand how one can not feel happy when walking past a large, swaying tree? How can one not feel happy when talking to someone you love!… There are so many beautiful things in the world that even the most incorrigible person would find them beautiful. Look at the children, look at the sunrise, look at the growing grass, look at the eyes that are watching you, loving you…"
　　—The Idiot

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