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
Happiness lies not in happiness but only in the attempt to achieve it.
Interpretation
True happiness is found not in the state of being happy, but in the pursuit of it.
Dostoevsky suggests that genuine happiness is not a destination to reach, but rather a journey full of effort and striving. It is the pursuit and the struggle to find happiness that brings fulfillment, rather than merely achieving a state of happiness itself.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage resilience and pursuit of goals.
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.
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.
Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
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.
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!
...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.
I have everything I need, so there are no blanks left unfilled.
Happiness does not consist in amusement. In fact, it would be strange if our end were amusement, and if we were to labor and suffer hardships all our life long merely to amuse ourselves.... The happy life is regarded as a life in conformity with virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement.
The greater the level of calmness of our mind, the greater our peace of mind, the greater our ability to enjoy a happy and joyful life.
The way to choose happiness is to follow what is right and real and the truth for you.
If you think there's something you need in order to be happy, then you believe in lack. Then believing you lack, you will create more lack.
Each of us, when our day's work is done, must seek our ideal, whether it be love or pinochle or lobster Γ la Newburg, or the sweet silence of the musty bookshelves.
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