I am told that the proximity of punishment arouses real repentance in the criminal and sometimes awakens a feeling of genuine remorse in the most hardened heart; I am told this is due to fear.

But gamblers know how a man can sit for almost twenty-four hours at cards, without looking to right, or to left.

Power is given only to him who dares to stoop and take it ... one must have the courage to dare.

It’s not God that I don’t accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return him the ticket.

Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him.

Nothing could be more absurd than moral lessons at such a moment! Oh, self-satisfied people: with what proud self-satisfaction such babblers are ready to utter their pronouncements! If they only knew to what degree I myself understand all the loathsomeness of my present condition, they wouldn't have the heart to teach me.

There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and useful for life in later years than some good memory, especially a memory connected with childhood, with home.