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
Generally speaking, our prisoners were capable of loving animals, and if they had been allowed they would have delighted to rear large numbers of domestic animals and birds in the prison. And I wonder what other activity could better have softened and refined their harsh and brutal natures than this. But it was not allowed. Neither the regulations nor the nature of the prison made it possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the transformative power of love and care, suggesting that nurturing animals could have improved the prisoners' harsh nature.
Dostoevsky highlights the inherent ability of individuals, even those imprisoned, to love and nurture. He argues that engaging with animals could have been a crucial opportunity for redemption and emotional growth, revealing the conflict between human potential and the oppressive environment of incarceration which stifles such positive expressions of humanity.
Themes
PrisonLoveAnimalsRedemptionHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about rehabilitation programs in prisons.
More from Fyodor Dostoevsky
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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!
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...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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