In 1866 Dostoyevsky published his novel Crime and Punishment, a classic psychological novel, which shocked readers and critics alike. This book is one of the best ever written, in my opinion.
It is a story about a poor ex student who lives from crime to crime, not because he is a bad person, he is actually a very gentle person and tries to avoid presents of violence, but because he cannot picture any other way to live, because he is incapable of living any other way.
Two of the most important themes in Crime and Punishment are suffering, and insanity. We see these topics tackled throughout the novel and by the end, Raskolnikov has experienced a complete change in his personality.
1. "Man has it all in his hands, and it all slips through his fingers from sheer cowardice."
2. "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."
3. "The darker the night, the brighter the stars, The deeper the grief, the closer is God!"
4. "It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most."
5. "It's because I chatter that I do nothing. Or perhaps it is that I chatter because I do nothing."
6. "We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast, vast! But why must it be vast? Instead of all that, what if it's one little room, like a bath house in the country, black and grimy and spiders in every corner. and that's all eternity is? I sometimes fancy it like that."
7. "Every man looks out for himself, and he has the happiest life who manages to hoodwink himself best of all."
8. "The most offensive is not their lying, one can always forgive lying … lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth, what is offensive is that they lie and worship their own lying…"
9. "Do you understand, sir, do you understand what it means when you have absolutely nowhere to turn?" Marmeladov's question came suddenly into his mind - 'for every man must have somewhere to turn…'."
10. "Honored sir, poverty is not a vice, that's a true saying. Yet I know too that drunkenness is not a virtue, and that's even truer. But beggary, honored sir, beggary is a vice. In poverty you may still retain your innate nobility of soul, but in beggary… never… no one. For beggary a man is not chased out of human society with a stick, he is swept out with a broom, so as to make it as humiliating as possible; and quite right, too, forasmuch as in beggary as I am ready to be the first to humiliate myself."
Also Read: Review of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground"
11. "Break what must be broken, once for all, that's all, and take the suffering on oneself."
12. "I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity."
13. "The man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment."
14. "The whole question here is, am I a monster, or a victim myself?"
15. "Did I murder the old woman? I murdered myself, not her! I crushed myself once for all, forever. … But it was the devil that killed that old woman, not I."
Conclusion
In Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the author highlights many important life lessons that we can all apply to our own life. As a reflection of the problems in Russian society and in his own age, Dostoevsky is constantly considering how society can be reformed and what responsibility each person has in carrying this out. Dostoevsky's story is constantly looking for solutions, for social and personal revolution. As Nietzsche perfectly said, "Dostoevsky is the only person who ever taught me anything about psychology."
The book may seem a little difficult to read at first, but it's worth the effort. The characters are appealing and the plot offers a new take on the psyche of humans. You can’t help but be engrossed in this world where morality seems to have no place for some people and where good intentions could be driven by an evil force which affects not only the protagonist of the story but all other people who play important parts in it.
You can read the book online for free.
Recommended reading - Veronika Decides To Die (Quotes)