The Quotes canon
Sourced and curated.
Every quote has been curated by hand and carefully authenticated.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Beauty2 quotes
Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880Beauty will save the world. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1869Absurdity1 quote
To crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible punishment so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1862Adaptability1 quote
Man is a creature that can get used to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1860Alienating work1 quote
To crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible punishment so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1862Alienation1 quote
To crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible punishment so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1862Bad decisions1 quote
When reason fails, the devil helps! — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866Being present1 quote
Man is born to live, not to prepare for life. — Boris Pasternak · 1958Death of God1 quote
But what will become of men then? I asked him, without God and immortal life? — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880Decisions and choices1 quote
When reason fails, the devil helps! — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866Decline of religion1 quote
But what will become of men then? I asked him, without God and immortal life? — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880Disenchanted world1 quote
If you were to destroy in mankind the belief in immortality, not only love but every living force maintaining the life of the world would at once, be dried up. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1879Eternity1 quote
We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast. But why must it be vast? Instead of all that, what if it’s one little room, like a bath house in the country, black and grimy and spiders in every corner, and that’s all eternity is? — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866Existence of God1 quote
But what will become of men then? I asked him, without God and immortal life? — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880Failure1 quote
I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them. — Boris Pasternak · 1958Fear1 quote
Worst of all I fear mediocrity. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1867God1 quote
But what will become of men then? I asked him, without God and immortal life? — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880Hopelessness and despair1 quote
In despair there are the most intense enjoyments, especially when one is very acutely conscious of the hopelessness of one's position. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1865Human needs1 quote
So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1879Living in the moment1 quote
Man is born to live, not to prepare for life. — Boris Pasternak · 1958Love1 quote
A woman's love for us increases
The less we love her, sooth to say-
She stoops, she falls, her struggling ceases;
Caught fast, she cannot get away. — Alexander Pushkin · 1837Man as social animal1 quote
Sociability is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle... Mutual aid is as much a law of animal life as mutual struggle. — Peter Kropotkin · 1902Martyrs1 quote
Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880Mediocrity1 quote
Worst of all I fear mediocrity. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1867Nature of man1 quote
Man is a creature that can get used to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1860New ideas1 quote
Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866Overcoming adversity1 quote
I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them. — Boris Pasternak · 1958Overcoming obstacles1 quote
I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them. — Boris Pasternak · 1958Pleasure1 quote
In despair there are the most intense enjoyments, especially when one is very acutely conscious of the hopelessness of one's position. — Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1865Political theory1 quote
Better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait till it begins to abolish itself from below. — Czar Alexander II of Russia · 1856Politics1 quote
Better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait till it begins to abolish itself from below. — Czar Alexander II of Russia · 1856