It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Power is given only to those who dare to lower themselves and pick it up. Only one thing matters, one thing; to be able to dare! – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
A real gentleman, even if he loses everything he owns, must show no emotion. Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Men do not accept their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and worship those whom they have tortured to death. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
One can know a man from his laugh, and if you like a man’s laugh before you know anything of him, you may confidently say that he is a good man. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
There are things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
A novel is a work of poetry. In order to write it, one must have tranquility of spirit and of impression. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than find as quickly as possible someone to worship. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
It is not possible to eat me without insisting that I sing praises of my devourer? – Fyodor Dostoevsky
