10 Iconic Quotes from Crime and Punishment
“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.”
Crime and Punishment is a timeless classic that will not lose its significance anytime soon.
With themes of morality, anguish, desperation, poverty, and class divide, even after 157 years, Crime and Punishment remains relevant to our contemporary world.
There are several things we can learn, laugh about, and relate to in a book like this. So, here are 10 of my favorite quotes from Crime and Punishment!
1. "But why, if you are so clever, do you lie here like a sack and have nothing to show for it?"
We all have felt, at some point in our lives, that we are capable of so many things but accomplish so little. Burnt-out gifted kids can certainly relate to this!
2. In order to understand any man one must be deliberate and careful to avoid forming prejudices and mistaken ideas, which are very difficult to correct and get over afterwards."
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is all about this situation!
3. “That’s how it always is with these Schilleresque noble hearts; till the last moment every goose is a swan with them, till the last moment, they hope for the best and will see nothing wrong, and although they have an inkling of the other side of the picture, yet they won’t face the truth till they are forced to; the very thought of it makes them shiver; they thrust the truth away with both hands, until the man they deck out in false colours puts a fool’s cap on them with his own hands”.
Schilleresque refers to the romantic heroes found in the writing of the German poet Schiller. This quote signifies the importance of a balance between idealism and rationality
4. “An honest and sensitive man is open; and a business man 'listens and goes on eating' you up".
This quote highlights the fact that we should be sensible about what personal information we’re sharing to others because it can be used against us in a harmful way.
5. "’We have facts,' they say. But facts are not everything– at least half the business lies in how you interpret them!’"
Sometimes facts can be twisted to make our own falsified conclusion. Difference between a left-wing and a right-wing news channel covering the same news makes it pretty apparent!
6. "Strength, strength is what one wants, you can get nothing without it, and strength must be won by strength".
Strength is one of the most essential things needed to survive in our world. And someone achieves strength by strength itself, as in, determination and sheer will.
7. "To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's. In the first case you're a man, in the second you're no better than a bird."
We shouldn’t follow someone mindlessly but should make our own decisions. If we use our own brain, and fail we’ll learn something but if we just follow what others say we will never achieve mental freedom and wouldn’t be able to accomplish things on our own.
8. “He is a man of intelligence, but to act sensible, intelligence is not enough."
Just as mentioned. Intelligence alone isn’t sufficient to act sensibly.
9. “It is in stupid things clever people are most easily caught. The more cunning a man is, the less he suspects that he will be caught in a simple thing. The more cunning a man is, the simpler the trap he must be caught in."
A clever man thinks highly of himself and has a tendency to overlook seemingly simple things and that makes him more susceptible to being caught in a trap.
10. “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.”
By far my most favourite quote. There can be numerous interpretations of this. What I think it suggests is that people with large intelligence and a deep heart (more empathy) are more prone to depression or mental illness because of the intensity in which they feel things.
What do you feel about these quotes? I’d love to know your interpretations of the quotes mentioned!
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