Fyodor Dostoevsky — Quote from Crime and Punishment
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.”
Crime and Punishment (1866)
Concepts: escape, conformity, agency
Resonant Quotes
- “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their min...” — Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind Dostoevsky's observation about human fear of decisive action provides psychological depth to Arendt's moral analysis—...
- “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” — Rollo May, Man's Search for Himself May's insight illuminates Dostoevsky's observation — the fear of new steps stems not from cowardice but from the deep...
- “Modern man, freed from the bonds of pre-individualistic society, which simult...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Dostoevsky's fear of the new step and Fromm's flight from freedom describe the same paralysis — the terror of possibi...
- “The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton, identic...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Dostoevsky's insight about the fear of novelty explains the psychological mechanism behind Fromm's automaton conformi...
- “The lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness. It is the expre...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Dostoevsky's insight about the fear of authentic action illuminates the root of Fromm's observation—the inability to ...
- “The oppressor would not be so strong if he did not have accomplices among the...” — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex Both quotes illuminate how oppression perpetuates itself through psychological mechanisms—de Beauvoir through complic...
- “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their min...” — Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind Both reveal how moral paralysis — whether from fear of action or refusal to choose — becomes itself a form of complic...
- “In the struggle between yourself and the world, second the world.” — Franz Kafka, The Zuerau Aphorisms While both address human reluctance to act, Kafka advocates surrendering to the world's overwhelming force whereas Do...