Quotogeny

Topic

Quotes about self-knowledge

  1. Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyThe Brothers KaramazovPart 1, Book 2, chapter 2 ("The Old Buffoon")Father Zosima

  2. If the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyThe Brothers KaramazovPart 2, Book 5, chapter 4 ("Rebellion")Ivan Karamazov

  3. The dreamer, if you want an exact definition, is not a human being but a creature of an intermediate sort.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyWhite Nights"Second Night"The narrator, the dreamer

  4. I am a sick man.... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyNotes from UndergroundPart 1 ("Underground"), chapter 1The Underground Man, the unnamed narrator

  5. I didn't kill a human being, I killed a principle!

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyCrime and PunishmentPart 3, chapter 6Rodion Raskolnikov, to himself

  6. Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyDemonsPart 2, chapter 1 ("Night"), section 5Kirillov

  7. Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering. … Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyNotes from UndergroundPart 1 ("Underground"), chapter 9The Underground Man, the unnamed narrator

  8. To be too conscious is an illness — a real thorough-going illness.

    GenuineFyodor DostoevskyNotes from UndergroundPart 1 ("Underground"), chapter 2The Underground Man, the unnamed narrator