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
All the Utopias will come to pass only when we grow wings and all people are converted into angels.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that true ideal societies can only be achieved through profound personal transformation.
Dostoevsky's quote implies that the realization of perfect societies, or 'Utopias', is contingent upon a fundamental change in human nature. It emphasizes the idea that for humanity to reach a state of absolute goodness or harmony, individuals must transcend their current state and evolve morally and spiritually into beings akin to angels, thus underlining the necessity of personal growth and ethical development for societal improvement.
Themes
UtopiaTransformationAngelsSocietyHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech on the importance of personal growth in achieving social justice.
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.
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
If you own a gun and have a swimming pool in the yard, the swimming pool is almost 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.
Steven LevittRead
She always says she dislikes the abnormal, it is so obvious. She says the normal is so much more simply complicated and interesting.
Gertrude SteinRead
I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!
Martin LutherRead
I am optimistic when I consider the spiritual dimension which the scientist's discipline forces him to ignore.
William GoldingRead
What a tiresome place America would be if freedom meant we all had to think alike or be the same color or wear the same gray flannel suit! That road leads to the conformity of the graveyard!
John Oliver KillensRead
The whole of existence is dancing, except man. The whole of existence is in a very relaxed movement; movement there is, certainly, but it is utterly relaxed. Trees are growing and birds are chirping and rivers are flowing, stars are moving: everything is going in a very relaxed way. No hurry, no haste, no worry, and no waste. Except man. Man has fallen a victim of his mind.
RajneeshRead