“For the secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for. Without a stable conception of the object of life, man would not consent to go on living, and would rather destroy himself than remain on earth, though he had bread in abundance”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
S1009
The Brothers Karamazov, Constance Garnett translation
Portrait by Vasily Perov, c. 1872
(Words Before)
"Brothers, do not be afraid of men's sin. Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of divine love and is the highest love on earth. Love all of God's creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love. Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble it, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to the animals; they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave your mark of defilement after you—alas, this is true of almost every one of us!
(The Quote)
"Much on earth is concealed from us, but in place of it we have been granted a secret, mysterious sense of our living bond with the other world, with the higher, heavenly world, and the roots of our thoughts and feelings are not here but in other worlds. That is why philosophers say it is impossible on earth to conceive the essence of things. God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on this earth, and he grew his garden, and everything that could come up came up, but what grows lives and is alive only through the feeling of its contact with other mysterious worlds. If that feeling grows weak or is destroyed in you, then what has grown up in you will also die. Then you will become indifferent to life and will even come to hate it. So I think.For the mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.Without a firm idea of what he is to live for, man will not consent to live and will sooner destroy himself than remain on earth, even if he is surrounded by bread. This is true, but what has happened? Instead of the ancient law of freedom, a new one has been brought in, a law of slavery and chains, and with bread for the first time."
(Words After)
"That is why we must have this sense of the mystery renewed in us. And therefore we have need of the monks, of their fasting and their prayers. People cry out to us: 'You are insolent hermits, you have secluded yourselves behind these walls to save your own souls, and have forgotten your brothers, to whose service you are vowed.' But we shall see who will be most zealous in the cause of the people's truth. For there are saviors of the people even in the wilderness, who have not cut themselves off from them. We are keeping the image of Christ fair and undistorted, in the purity of God's truth, in the faith of our fathers from the first, and when the time comes we will show it to the tottering truth of the world. That will be a great thing..."