The 5 best phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s phrases are the faithful reflection of a writer who had a stormy life, combined with sensitivity and talent. out of the ordinary. 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 almost lose his mind. . He managed to overcome 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 only some of those that best represent his attitude towards the world and before life. Discover them!

Frankness, a topic addressed in the phrases of Fyodor Dostoevsky

One of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s phrases says the following: “In the world there is nothing so difficult like frankness and nothing as easy as flattery”. Today it might seem like a bit of an obvious statement. In its time, it was a revolutionary statement.

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 flattery becomes hypocritical. a norm.

The two halves of life

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s phrases speak of a man who reflected passionately on life. The paradox is that he always had death close by. endured death of his parents, his wife, his daughter and his brother. In fact, he himself was sentenced to capital punishment.which they later raised.

One of his statements about life says: “The second half of a man’s life is made up solely of the habits acquired in the first half.”. As they say: 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 of the recurring themes in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s phrases. 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 an ax”.

This 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 this ethic that rejects individual evil and applauds collective harm configured? How come there are circumstances in which murderers are a model for others?

The echoes of failure

Dostoevsky’s life was full of vicissitudes. Two of the hardest blows of his life were the deaths of his newborn daughter and his second wife.. He even lost his way and acquired an unhealthy fondness for gambling. In turn, these experiences provided very valuable material for his work.

Suffering and its effects are condensed in one of the most interesting phrases by Fyodor Dostoevsky. He says: “After failure, the best-laid plans seem absurd.”. It clearly reflects that emotional state that prevails after suffering a decisive failure. It shows how this completely alters perception, making things meaningless.

Pain also teaches

If Dostoevsky knew anything, it was pain. However, he does not reject it as such. Rather, he reflects on it in an almost didactic way. He points out: “True pain, which makes us suffer deeply, sometimes makes even the thoughtless man serious and constant. ; Even the poor in spirit become smarter after great pain”.

In one way or another, it shows that one of the functions of pain is to sensitize us.. Another of them, giving depth to our thinking. It is not a praise of suffering, but an analysis of one of its facets.

Reading Fyodor Dostoevsky is a delight. His works remain fully current., since it did not aim to portray a time or specific circumstances, but rather to scrutinize human nature. They are also the testimony of a man who knew how to overcome adversity and turn it into art.

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