“Man is bound to lie about himself”

“At first it was simply liking, Nastenka, but now, now ! I am just in the same position as you were when you went to him with your bundle. In a worse position than you, Nastenka,because he cared for no one else as you do.”

“It's in despair that you find the sharpest pleasures, particularly when you are most acutely aware of the hopelessness of your position.”

“"I love mankind," he said, "but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular."”

“Besides, nowadays, almost all capable people are terribly afraid of being ridiculous, and are miserable because of it.”

“Cities give us collision. 'Tis said, London and New York take the nonsense out of a man.”

“Life must be lived on a higher plane. We must go up to a higher platform, to which we are always invited to ascend; there, the whole aspect of things changes.”

“Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far.”