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
Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. If the realist once believes, then he is bound by his very realism to admit the miraculous also.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Faith shapes our perceptions of reality, and belief can reveal miracles where they seem absent.
In this quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the author expresses the idea that faith is not merely a response to miracles, but rather, it is the foundation that allows individuals to perceive and acknowledge miraculous events in their lives. The realist, who typically relies on empirical evidence, finds that once he embraces the concept of faith, he must also accept the possibility of the miraculous, indicating that belief can transform one’s understanding of reality.
Themes
FaithRealismMiraclesBeliefPerception
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
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.
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
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