Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Beauty is a terrible and awful thing! It is terrible because it has not been fathomed, for God sets us nothing but riddles. Here the boundaries meet and all contradictions exist side by side.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Beauty is complex and paradoxical, challenging our understanding and provoking deep thought.
In this quote, Fyodor Dostoevsky highlights the multifaceted nature of beauty, suggesting that it is both awe-inspiring and intimidating. He implies that beauty presents us with puzzles and contradictions, reflecting the deeper enigmas of existence and the divine. This complexity of beauty is seen as a dual force that can inspire both admiration and fear, as it prompts us to ponder the mysteries of life.
Themes
BeautyPhilosophyMysteryContradictionTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about art and its impact on emotions, one could cite this quote to emphasize the complexity of beauty.
More from Fyodor Dostoevsky
All quotes →What if, when this fog scatters and flies upward, the whole rotten, slimey city goes with it, rises with the fog and vanishes like smoke.
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Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
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Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.
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But do you understand, I cry to him, do you understand that if you have the guillotine in the forefront, and with such glee, it's for the sole reason that cutting heads off is the easiest thing, and having an idea is difficult!
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
...to return to their 'native soil,' as they say, to the bosom, so to speak, of their mother earth, like frightened children, yearning to fall asleep on the withered bosom of their decrepit mother, and to sleep there for ever, only to escape the horrors that terrify them.
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