“ Because some fool, or a rogue pretending to be a fool, strikes a man, that man is to be dishonoured for his whole life, unless he wipes out the disgrace with blood, or makes his assailant beg forgiveness on his knees! ”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot (1874). copy citation
Author | Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
---|---|
Source | The Idiot |
Topic | forgiveness life |
Date | 1874 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by Eva Martin |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2638/2638-h/2638-h.htm |
Context
“I could forgive Gania if he were to marry her for love, but for money! Oh dear! that is horrible! ” “ Yes, your brother does not attract me much. ” “ I am not surprised at that. After what you... But I do hate that way of looking at things! Because some fool, or a rogue pretending to be a fool, strikes a man, that man is to be dishonoured for his whole life, unless he wipes out the disgrace with blood, or makes his assailant beg forgiveness on his knees! I think that so very absurd and tyrannical. Lermontoff’s Bal Masque is based on that idea—a stupid and unnatural one, in my opinion; but he was hardly more than a child when he wrote it. ” “ I like your sister very much. ””
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