Fyodor Dostoevsky — Quote from The Brothers Karamazov
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him.”
The Brothers Karamazov (1880)
Concepts: authenticity, conformity, meaning
Resonant Quotes
- “There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it can...” — Franz Kafka, The Zuerau Aphorisms Kafka's paradox that seeking truth requires becoming a lie finds perfect counterpoint in Dostoevsky's warning about s...
- “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.” — Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death Both philosophers diagnose the same existential crisis—the loss of authentic selfhood through either self-deception (...
- “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convi...” — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Dostoevsky's individual who destroys his capacity to distinguish truth becomes Arendt's perfect totalitarian subject ...
- “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night Both quotes explore the dangerous collapse between performative identity and authentic self, where Dostoevsky warns t...
- “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.” — Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death Both philosophers identify self-betrayal as the fundamental spiritual crisis—whether through self-deception or failin...
- “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convi...” — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Dostoevsky's warning against self-deception and Arendt's portrait of people who can no longer distinguish fact from f...
- “O my body, make of me always a man who questions!” — Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks Both authors advocate for radical self-honesty as a foundation of authentic existence—Dostoevsky warning against self...
- “The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meanin...” — Václav Havel, Letters to Olga Both diagnose a profound disconnection from truth—Dostoevsky's self-deception creates internal blindness while Havel'...