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 do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?
Interpretation
What this quote means
One small wrongdoing can be overshadowed by many acts of kindness and goodness.
This quote by Dostoevsky reflects the idea that the consequences of a single bad deed can be mitigated by the cumulative positive impact of numerous good actions. It emphasizes the importance of striving to do good in order to create a balance in the moral landscape, suggesting that human actions can create a more forgiving world if kindness prevails.
Themes
Good DeedsCrimeMoralityKindnessBalance
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one could quote Dostoevsky to emphasize the importance of doing good.
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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, 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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