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.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great intelligence and deep compassion often come with pain and sadness.
This quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky highlights the idea that individuals with profound understanding and emotional depth frequently experience suffering. The inherent complexities of life, paired with heightened sensitivity to the human condition, suggest that wisdom and greatness are intertwined with the sorrows of existence, leading to a nuanced experience of joy and pain.
Themes
IntelligenceSufferingSadnessGreatnessHuman Condition
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of empathy, one might use this quote to illustrate the depth of understanding gained through personal hardship.
More from Fyodor Dostoevsky
All quotes βLove the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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!
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
...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.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Power is only vouchsafed to the man who dares to stoop and pick it up. There is only one thing, one thing needful: one has only to dare!
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
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