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
There are three forces, the only three forces capable of conquering and enslaving forever the conscience of these weak rebels in the interests of their own happiness. They are: the miracle, the mystery and authority.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that certain powerful forces can dominate human conscience, influencing our pursuit of happiness.
Dostoevsky's quote highlights three fundamental forces—the miracle, the mystery, and authority—that can profoundly impact our sense of freedom and happiness. In his view, these forces can manipulate individuals, rendering them subservient to external influences that dictate their beliefs and actions, ultimately shaping their understanding of happiness.
Themes
ForcesConscienceHappinessAuthorityMysteryMiracle
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the influence of societal forces on personal freedom.
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.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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
Similar quotes
My rule is that if I interview someone, they should never read what I have to say about them and regret having given me the interview.
Malcolm GladwellRead
We can at least try to understand our own motives, passions, and prejudices, so as to be conscious of what we are doing when we apeal to those of others. This is very difficult, because our own prejudice and emotional bias always seems to us so rational.
T. S. EliotRead
Misled by fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; But yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven.
Robert BurnsRead
What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
...that in our state one man was to do one job, and the job he was naturally most suited for .. And further, we have often heard and often said that justice consists of minding your own business and not interfering with other people.
PlatoRead
In this broad earth of ours, Amid the measureless grossness and the slag, Enclosed and safe within its central heart, Nestles the seed of perfection.
Walt WhitmanRead