Time Quote by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
““Why are they crying? Why are they crying?" Mitya asks, flying past them at a great clip. "The wee one, the driver answers, "it's the wee one crying." And Mitya is struck that he has said it in his own peasant way: "the wee one," and not "the baby." And he likes it that the peasant has said "wee one": there seems to be more pity in it. "But why is it crying?" Mitya insists, as if he were foolish, "why are its little arms bare, why don't they wrap it up?" "The wee one's cold, its clothes are frozen, they don't keep it warm." "But why is it so? Why?" foolsih Mitya would not leave off. "They're poor, burnt out, they've got no bread, they're begging for their burnt-down place." "No, no," Mitya still seems not to understand, "tell me: why are these burnt-out mothers standing here, why are the people poor, why is the wee one poor, why is the steppe bare, why don't they embrace and kiss, why don't they sing joyful songs, why are they blackened with such black misery, why don't they feed the wee one?" And he feels within himself that, though his questions have no reason or sense, he still certainly wants to ask in just that way, and he should ask in just that way. And he also feels a tenderness such as he has never known before surging up in his heart, he wants to weep, he wants to do something for them all, so that the wee one will no longer cry, so that the blackened, dried-up mother of the wee one will not cry either, so that there will be no more tears in anyone from that moment on, and it must be done at once, at once, without delay and despite everything, with all his Karamazov unrestraint.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1880
Mitya’s relentless questioning reveals deep empathy for suffering and a desperate urge to alleviate it, highlighting the moral responsibility to act against injustice.
In simple terms: Mitya feels deep compassion and wants to help the poor.
Act with compassion to relieve suffering.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- poverty relief
- social activism
- community support
- humanitarian aid
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What can you do personally to ease others’ suffering?
- How does empathy translate into action?
Might be idealistic without practical means to address systemic poverty.