Fyodor Dostoevsky — Quote from The Brothers Karamazov
“Nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom.”
The Brothers Karamazov (1880)
Concepts: freedom, conformity, escape
Resonant Quotes
- “Modern man, freed from the bonds of pre-individualistic society, which simult...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Dostoevsky's claim that nothing is more insupportable than freedom and Fromm's flight from freedom describe identical...
- “A comfortable, smooth, reasonable, democratic unfreedom prevails in advanced ...” — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man Marcuse's analysis of comfortable unfreedom provides the sociological mechanism for Dostoevsky's psychological insigh...
- “The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton, identic...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Both illuminate the psychological burden of authentic freedom and how individuals often choose conformity to escape t...
- “In the struggle between yourself and the world, second the world.” — Franz Kafka, The Zuerau Aphorisms Kafka's counsel to surrender to the world's struggle resonates with Dostoevsky's insight about freedom's unbearable w...
- “Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.” — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man Marcuse's insight about choosing masters reflects Dostoevsky's observation that humans find genuine freedom unbearabl...
- “The criterion for free choice can never be an absolute one, but neither is it...” — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man Both illuminate why people accept false forms of freedom—Marcuse through consumer choice that maintains control, Dost...
- “The so-called consumer society and the politics of corporate capitalism have ...” — Herbert Marcuse, An Essay on Liberation Dostoevsky's insight about humanity's flight from freedom provides the psychological foundation that explains why Mar...