QuoteProject
Twice two makes four seems to me simply a piece of insolence. Twice two makes four is a pert coxcomb who stands with arms akimbo barring your path and spitting. I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that strict adherence to facts can be limiting and that sometimes embracing broader interpretations can be valuable.

Dostoevsky's quote challenges the rigidity of absolute truths, such as the mathematical certainty of 'twice two makes four.' He personifies this certainty as a hindrance to creativity and perspective, acknowledging that while objective truths hold their value, subjective interpretations can enrich our understanding and experiences, as demonstrated by the playful notion that 'twice two makes five' can be charming in its own right.

Themes

TruthPerspectiveCreativitySubjectivityInterpretation

In practice

Example use cases

During a philosophical debate, one might use this quote to argue about the nature of truth.

More from Fyodor Dostoevsky

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
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

It is the hallmark of any deep truth that its negation is also a deep truth.
Niels BohrRead
Lots of my dying patients say they grow in bounds and leaps, and finish all the unfinished business. But assisting a suicide is cheating them of these lessons, like taking a student out of school before final exams. That's not love, it's projecting your own unfinished business
Elisabeth Kubler-RossRead
The minute you understand racism, you're responsible for being racist. It's like eating from the tree of knowledge.
Lynda BarryRead
Life in general has never been even close to fair, so the pretense that the government can make it fair is a valuable and inexhaustible asset to politicians who want to expand government.
Thomas SowellRead
A withered maple leaf has left its branch and is falling to the ground; its movements resemble those of a butterfly in flight. Isn't it strange? The saddest and deadest of things is yet so like the gayest and most vital of creatures?
Ivan TurgenevRead
Was it pretty? Your country. . .your land?" "It was beautiful," the gunslinger said. "There were fields and forests and rivers and mists in the morning. But that's only pretty. My mother used to say that the only real beauty is order and love and light.
Stephen KingRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.