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
Happiness lies not in happiness but only in the attempt to achieve it.
Interpretation
True happiness is found not in the state of being happy, but in the pursuit of it.
Dostoevsky suggests that genuine happiness is not a destination to reach, but rather a journey full of effort and striving. It is the pursuit and the struggle to find happiness that brings fulfillment, rather than merely achieving a state of happiness itself.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage resilience and pursuit of goals.
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.
What if, when this fog scatters and flies upward, the whole rotten, slimey city goes with it, rises with the fog and vanishes like smoke.
Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
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.
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!
...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.
The state of life is most happy where superfluities are not required and necessities are not wanting.
It is with happiness as with watches: the less complicated, the less easily deranged.
Nothing is more beautiful than a smile that has struggled through tears
A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience.
The secret of happiness is: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it.
Be cheerful in all that you do. Live joyfully. Live happily. Live enthusiastically, knowing that God does not dwell in gloom and melancholy, but in light and love.
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