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
It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our later life is often a reflection of the habits we develop earlier.
This quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky suggests that the habits and behaviors we cultivate in our youth significantly shape the course of our later years. It implies that our character and life path are largely determined by the accumulation of these habits, reinforcing the importance of conscious choices in the early stages of life.
Themes
HabitsLifeChoicesCharacterReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal development.
More from Fyodor Dostoevsky
All quotes βWhat if, when this fog scatters and flies upward, the whole rotten, slimey city goes with it, rises with the fog and vanishes like smoke.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Similar quotes
Always have a vivid imagination, for you never know when you might need it.
J. K. RowlingRead
There is no avoidance in delay.
AeschylusRead
Do you know this Sanskrit Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth.
Swami VivekanandaRead
What I know at sixty, I knew as well at twenty. Forty years of a long, superfluous, labor of verification.
Emile M. CioranRead
She still had her bad days, no question, when the black dog of depression sniffed her out and settled its crushing weight on her chest and breathed its pungent dog breath in her face. On those days she called in sick to the IT shop where, most days, she untangled tangled networks for a song. On those days she pulled down the shades and ran dark for twelve or twenty-four or seventy-two hours, however long it took for the black dog to go on home to its dark master.
Lev GrossmanRead
The most important 6 inches on the battlefield is between your ears.
Jim MattisRead