Dostoyevsky Quote by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
““From an encounter in 1862... “Dickens told me,” Dostoyevsky recalled in a letter written years later, “that all the good, simple people in his novels . . . are what he wanted to have been, and his villains were what he was (or rather, what he found in himself), his cruelty, his attacks of causeless enmity towards those who were helpless and looked to him for comfort, his shrinking from those whom he ought to love. . . . There were two people in him, he told me: one who feels as he ought to feel and one who feels the opposite. From the one who feels the opposite I make my evil characters, from the one who feels as a man ought to feel, I try to live my life.””
About This Quote
Dostoyevsky reflects on Dickens' self‑assessment that his virtuous characters embody his ideal self, while his antagonists arise from his own darker impulses, revealing an internal moral duality.
In simple terms: Dickens sees his heroes as aspirational and his villains as personal flaws.
Key Takeaway
Self‑reflection shapes creative character.
Themes
Self‑identity
Moral duality
Artistic introspection
Psychology of creation
Empathy vs. cruelty
Mood
Introspective
Somber
Type
Philosophical
Literary anecdote
When to use this quote
- Writers confronting personal flaws
- Readers analyzing authorial intent
- Therapists using literature for self‑exploration
Key Concepts
Ideal self
Shadow self
Moral conflict
Practical Applications
- Literary criticism
- Creative writing workshops
Questions to Reflect On
- How does recognizing one's own shadow influence artistic output?
- Can an author's moral self‑assessment be separated from their work?
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![“[Dostoyevsky] eloquently proves that heartless ideas are often a source of immorality: they bring with them destructiveness, hatred, cynicism, and misanthropy. The novelist also carefully examines moral indifference and corruption which leads him to the questions: “What if reason takes the side of…” quote by George L. Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c87/george-l-kline-239544_dostoevsky_dostoyevsky-eloquently-proves-that-heart_53378.jpg)
