"The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison."
"To crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible of punishments so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it and dread it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character."
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Source: Fyodor Dostoevsky (2012). “The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky”, p.13, Modern Library
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More quotes by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"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."
"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."
"The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for."
"When I look back on my past and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul-then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness."
"If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man ... just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man."