“ why am I so stupid that if others are stupid—and I know they are—yet I won't be wiser? ”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (1867). copy citation
| Author | Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
|---|---|
| Source | Crime and Punishment |
| Topic | wisdom stupidity |
| Date | 1867 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Constance Garnett |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2554/2554-h/2554-h.htm |
Context
“I preferred lying still and thinking. And I kept thinking…. And I had dreams all the time, strange dreams of all sorts, no need to describe! Only then I began to fancy that… No, that's not it! Again I am telling you wrong! You see I kept asking myself then: why am I so stupid that if others are stupid—and I know they are—yet I won't be wiser? Then I saw, Sonia, that if one waits for everyone to get wiser it will take too long…. Afterwards I understood that that would never come to pass, that men won't change and that nobody can alter it and that it's not worth wasting effort over it.”
source
Meaning and analysis
