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.
Paradise is hidden in each one of use, it is concealed within me too, right now, and if I wish, it will come for me in reality, tomorrow even, and for the rest of my life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that inner peace and happiness are already present within us, waiting to be realized.
Dostoevsky's quote reveals the idea that the potential for paradise, or a state of ultimate happiness and fulfillment, exists within each individual. It highlights the importance of self-discovery and the belief that one's mindset and wishes can manifest into reality. The quote encourages introspection and suggests that with the right intention and awareness, one can bring this hidden paradise into their life, transforming the present and the future.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech on self-improvement, one might use this quote to encourage others to seek their inner happiness.
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.
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.
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If you will take my advice you will think little of Socrates, and a great deal more of truth.
I know that when I attached my sense of identity a little too closely to my work that I might be distracting myself from feelings of unworthiness. It wasn't the number of hours I worked or how bloodshot my eyes were that defined the difference. It was something internal.
The noblest mind the best contentment has
Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
There's no shortage of remarkable ideas, what's missing is the will to execute them.
Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.