The 5 Best Phrases Of Fyodor Dostoevsky
The phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky are the faithful reflection of a writer who had a stormy life, united with an unusual sensitivity and talent. His work is one of those that has best revealed human nature, throughout all time.
His authoritarian father was tortured and murdered, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was just a teenager. This made Dostoevsky on the brink of losing his mind . He managed to overcome it and perhaps that is why his literature has that depth and beauty, so typical of those who have lived intensely.
It would be impossible to make a complete compilation of the great phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky. There are many works to choose from. We have selected just a few of those that best represent your attitude to the world and to life. Discover them!
Frankness, a theme addressed in the phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky
One of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s phrases reads as follows: ” In the world there is nothing as difficult as frankness and nothing as easy as flattery. ” Today it might seem like a somewhat obvious statement. In his time, it was a revolutionary assertion.
Dostoevsky lived in old Russia, a place where classism, authoritarianism and repression were constant. When these types of characteristics prevail, frankness becomes almost a crime and hypocritical flattery , a norm.
The two halves of life
The phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky speak of a man who reflected passionately on life. The paradox is that death was always close by. He endured the death of his parents, his wife, his daughter and his brother. In fact, he himself was sentenced to capital punishment, which was later lifted.
One of his affirmations about life says: ” The second half of a man’s life is made only of the habits acquired in the first half. ” As someone who says: in the first half of life, people form what they will live with for the rest of their existence.
Relativity in Ethics
Ethics is another recurring theme in the phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky. This, for example, says: ” I submit to ethics, but I do not understand in any way why it is more glorious to bomb a besieged city than to murder someone with the ax. “
It is a very interesting and profound reflection. They say that if someone kills another they call him a “murderer”. But if he kills hundreds of thousands, they call him a “hero. ” How is that ethic that rejects an individual evil and applauds a collective harm configured? How is it that there are circumstances in which murderers are a role model for others?
The echoes of failure
Dostoevsky’s life was full of vicissitudes. Two of the strongest blows in his life were the death of his newborn daughter and his second wife. He even lost his way and acquired a sick fondness for the game. In turn, these experiences gave him very valuable material for his work.
Suffering and its effects are condensed in one of the most interesting phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky. He says, ” After failure, the best-crafted plans seem absurd. ” It clearly reflects that emotional state that prevails after suffering a decisive failure. Show how this completely alters perception, making things meaningless.
Pain teaches too
If Dostoevsky knew of anything, it was pain. However, he does not reject it as such. Rather, he reflects on him in an almost didactic way. He points out: “ True pain, that which makes us suffer deeply, sometimes makes even thoughtless man serious and constant ; even the poor in spirit get smarter after great pain . “
In one way or another, it shows that one of the functions of pain is to sensitize us. Another one, to give depth to our thinking. It is not a compliment to suffering, but an analysis of one of its facets.
Reading Fyodor Dostoevsky is a delight. His works remain fully valid, since he did not aim to portray a time, or specific circumstances, but to scrutinize human nature. They are also the testimony of a man who knew how to overcome adversity and turn it into art.
