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
People really do like seeing their best friends humiliated; a large part of the friendship is based on humiliation; and that is an old truth,well known to all intelligent people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Friendship often involves a mix of support and playful humiliation, revealing deeper truths about relationships.
In this quote, Dostoevsky explores the complex nature of friendships, suggesting that part of what binds friends together is the shared experience of humor and humiliation. This idea points to a deeper understanding of how friends react to each other, often finding amusement in each other's misfortunes, which can strengthen their bond and create a sense of intimacy based on shared vulnerabilities.
Themes
FriendshipHumiliationRelationshipsSupportTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the nature of friendships, one might reference Dostoevsky's insights for a more relatable perspective.
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.
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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
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I take friendship very seriously.
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Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.
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Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me.
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In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.
AristotleRead