For if there's no everlasting God, there's no such thing as virtue, and there's no need of it.

I almost do not exist now and I know it; God knows what lives in me in place of me.

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Loving someone is different from being in love with someone. You can hate someone you're in love with

A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and, in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal. And it all comes from lying - lying to others and to yourself.

Know, then, that now, precisely now, these people are more certain than ever before that they are completely free, and at the same time they themselves have brought us their freedom and obediently laid it at our feet. It is our doing, but is it what you wanted? This sort of freedom?' Again I don't understand', Alyosha interrupted, 'Is he being ironic? Is he laughing?' Not in the least. He precisely lays it to his and his colleagues' credit that they have finally overcome freedom, and have done so in order to make people happy.

It was a wonderful night, such a night as is only possible when we are young, dear reader.