"But do you understand, I cry to..." - Quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky
But do you understand, I cry to him, do you understand that if you have the guillotine in the forefront, and with such glee, it's for the sole reason that cutting heads off is the easiest thing, and having an idea is difficult!
More by Fyodor Dostoevsky
“To achieve perfection, one must first begin by not understanding many things! And if we understand too quickly, we may not understand well.”
“Oh, if only I did nothing simply as a result of laziness.”
“A cultivated and decent man cannot be vain without setting a fearfully high standard for himself, and without despising and almost hating himself at certain moments.”
More on Thought
“A wise writer will feel that the ends of study and composition are best answered by announcing undiscovered regions of thought, and so communicating, through hope, new activity to the torpid spirit.”
“But I cannot recite, even thus rudely, laws of the intellect, without remembering that lofty and sequestered class of men who have been its prophets and oracles, the high-priesthood of the pure reason, the Trismegisti, the expounders of the principles of thought from age to age.”
“Forbid a man to think for himself or to act for himself and you may add the joy of piracy and the zest of smuggling to his life.”
More on Difficulty
“In stating as fully as I could how things really were, it was often very difficult and I wrote awkwardly and the awkwardness is what they called my style. All mistakes and awkwardness are easy to see, and they called it style.”
“I'm trained to difficulties; difficulties can't be eliminated from life.”
“To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is more difficult.”