If you were to destroy the belief in immortality in mankind, not only love but every living force on which the continuation of all life in the world depended, would dry up at once.

Meaning of the quote

This quote by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky suggests that if people stopped believing in life after death, it would cause everything that keeps us alive to disappear. Love, and all the other important things that allow life to continue, would vanish. In other words, our belief in immortality, or living forever, is what keeps all the vital forces of life going. Without that belief, everything that sustains us would quickly disappear.

About Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky was a renowned Russian novelist, short story writer, and journalist who is considered one of the greatest writers in world literature. His works delved into the human condition and explored various philosophical and religious themes within 19th-century Russia. Some of his most acclaimed novels include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.

More about the author

More quotes from Fyodor Dostoevsky

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One can know a man from his laugh, and if you like a man’s laugh before you know anything of him, you may confidently say that he is a good man.

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Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.

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Russian novelist (1821-1881)

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

To love someone means to see him as God intended him.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

Happiness does not lie in happiness, but in the achievement of it.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

Power is given only to those who dare to lower themselves and pick it up. Only one thing matters, one thing; to be able to dare!

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

The soul is healed by being with children.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

If there is no God, everything is permitted.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

There are things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than find as quickly as possible someone to worship.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

It is not possible to eat me without insisting that I sing praises of my devourer?

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

A real gentleman, even if he loses everything he owns, must show no emotion. Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

Realists do not fear the results of their study.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)