--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that if one is faced by…" description: "\"I think that if one is faced by inevitable destruction -- if a house is falling upon you, for instance -- one must feel a great longing to sit down, cl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg" --- # I think that if one is faced by inevitable destruction… ![“I think that if one is faced by inevitable destruction -- if a house is falling upon you, for instance -- one must feel a great longing to sit down, close one's eyes and wait, come what may . . .” quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg) > “I think that if one is faced by inevitable destruction -- if a house is falling upon you, for instance -- one must feel a great longing to sit down, close one's eyes and wait, come what may . . .” [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When faced with inevitable disaster, one may feel a yearning to surrender and wait for fate. **In simple terms:** Destruction can provoke a desire to give up. Key Takeaway Accept feelings but seek constructive response. Themes existentialism psychology despair acceptance Mood reflective philosophical Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal crisis - natural disasters - war zones - terminal illness Key Concepts fatalism emotional coping human condition Questions to Reflect On - What drives the urge to wait for fate? - How can one transform longing into action? A Different Perspective Surrendering may hinder proactive problem‑solving. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [This part of Brazil offered the curious spectacle of a great evil, which has been long suffered to exist and is now advancing, gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grey/this-part-of-brazil-offered-the-curious-spectacle-of-a-great-evil/) [George Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grey/) > [“Why am I getting so worked up over this? Because I like him and I feel like he’s telling me, in code, that I’m…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-rae/why-am-i-getting-so-worked-up-over-this-because-i-like-him-and-i-feel/) [Kristin Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-rae/) > [“The only art I've been ever interested in is the curve of a woman's legs as she lays on the floor gibbering in madness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-liggio/the-only-art-i-ve-been-ever-interested-in-is-the-curve-of-a-woman-s/) [Dennis Liggio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-liggio/) > [“There were a great many jokes about the disaster (house falling on and killing Wicked Witch of the East), naturally. "You can't hide from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/there-were-a-great-many-jokes-about-the-disaster-house-falling-on-and/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [I build homes. My brother and I will buy a house that's falling down and reconfigure the whole thing. 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At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-seghers/i-have-a-great-longing-for-a-particular-sort-of-world-in-which-one/) Anna Seghers > [It is said that many children who live in the central provinces, away from the ocean, have a great longing to see it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-loti/it-is-said-that-many-children-who-live-in-the-central-provinces-away/) [Pierre Loti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-loti/) > [“The great longing of an unquiet heart is to possess constantly and consciously the loved one, or, failing that, to be able to plunge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-great-longing-of-an-unquiet-heart-is-to-possess-constantly-and/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“She would almost prefer to fold her arms and sink into an eternal slumber, so that the great longing of her soul for peaceful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-chiaverini/she-would-almost-prefer-to-fold-her-arms-and-sink-into-an-eternal/) [Jennifer Chiaverini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-chiaverini/) ## More by Fyodor Dostoevsky > [Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/believe-to-the-end-even-if-all-men-went-astray-and-you-were-left-the/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [... you are a man still young, so to say, in your first youth and so put intellect above everything ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/you-are-a-man-still-young-so-to-say-in-your-first-youth-and-so-put/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“There is only one salvation for you: take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for all the sins of men. For indeed it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/there-is-only-one-salvation-for-you-take-yourself-up-and-make/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“It is true I am a complete stranger to these people, but they are not strangers to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/it-is-true-i-am-a-complete-stranger-to-these-people-but-they-are-not/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Everything seems stupid when it fails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/everything-seems-stupid-when-it-fails/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Love to throw yourself on the earth and kiss it. Kiss the earth and love it with an unceasing, consuming love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/love-to-throw-yourself-on-the-earth-and-kiss-it-kiss-the-earth-and/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [They have this social justification for every nasty thing they do!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/they-have-this-social-justification-for-every-nasty-thing-they-do/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Be the sun and all will see you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/be-the-sun-and-all-will-see-you/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [If you are penitent, you love. And if you love you are of God. All things are atoned for, all things are saved by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/if-you-are-penitent-you-love-and-if-you-love-you-are-of-god-all/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“To kill for murder is a punishment incomparably worse than the crime itself. Murder by legal sentence is immeasurably more terrible than murder by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/to-kill-for-murder-is-a-punishment-incomparably-worse-than-the-crime/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“You magnify your failure to a crime, Vasya.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/you-magnify-your-failure-to-a-crime-vasya/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [The death of a child is the greatest reason to doubt the existence of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/the-death-of-a-child-is-the-greatest-reason-to-doubt-the-existence-of/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [In a way there's only a fine shade of difference between the healthy and the deranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/in-a-way-there-s-only-a-fine-shade-of-difference-between-the-healthy/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“Now answer me, sincerely, honestly, who lives past forty? I'll tell you who does: fools and scoundrels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/now-answer-me-sincerely-honestly-who-lives-past-forty-i-ll-tell-you/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“There are crimes that are truly uncomely. With crimes, whatever they may be, the more blood, the more horror there is, the more imposing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/there-are-crimes-that-are-truly-uncomely-with-crimes-whatever-they/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) [Explore all 642 Fyodor Dostoevsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) Atiq Rahimi [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think that if one is faced by inevitable destruction -- if a house is falling upon you, for instance -- one must feel a great longing to sit down, close one's eyes and wait, come what may . . .", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fyodor Dostoevsky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitable-destruction-if-a-house-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destruction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitable-destruction-if-a-house-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/fyodor-dostoevsky-342_destruction_i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitab_2411913.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think that if one is faced by inevitable destruction -- if a house is falling upon you, for instance…” — Fyodor Dostoevsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fyodor Dostoevsky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think that if one is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitable-destruction-if-a-house-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-think-that-if-one-is-faced-by-inevitable-destruction-if-a-house-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```