--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Probably we’d have been better off born…" description: "\"“Probably we’d have been better off born in nineteenth-century Russia. I’d have been Prince So-and-so and you Count Such-and-such. We’d go hunting toge..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg" --- # Probably we’d have been better off born in… ![“Probably we’d have been better off born in nineteenth-century Russia. I’d have been Prince So-and-so and you Count Such-and-such. We’d go hunting together, fight, be rivals in love, have our metaphysical complaints, drink beer watching the sunset from the shores of the Black Sea. In our later…” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg) > ““Probably we’d have been better off born in nineteenth-century Russia. I’d have been Prince So-and-so and you Count Such-and-such. We’d go hunting together, fight, be rivals in love, have our metaphysical complaints, drink beer watching the sunset from the shores of the Black Sea. In our later years, the two of us would be implicated in the Something-or-other Rebellion and exiled to Siberia, where we’d die. Brilliant, don’t you think? Me, if I’d been born in the nineteenth century, I’m sure I could have written better novels. Maybe not your Dostoyevsky, but a known second-rate novelist. And what would you have been doing? Maybe you’d only have been Count Such-and-such straight through. That wouldn’t be so bad, just being Count Such-and-such. That’d be nice and nineteenth century.”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A whimsical, anachronistic fantasy about living in 19th‑century Russia, blending romance, adventure, and literary ambition with modern humor. **In simple terms:** Imagining a romanticized past life. Key Takeaway Embrace imagination, but stay grounded. Themes imagination nostalgia literature humor fantasy Mood playful nostalgic reflective Type fictional conversational humorous When to use this quote - daydreaming - role‑play - writing inspiration - historical curiosity - escape from reality Key Concepts historical romanticism self‑reflection creative longing Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to historical fantasies? - How can you channel that yearning into present creativity? A Different Perspective Romanticizing the past can ignore present possibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Watching The Sunset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watching-the-sunset/) ## Related quotes > [“Probably we’d have been better off born in nineteenth-century Russia. I’d have been Prince So-and-so and you Count Such-and-such. We’d go hunting together, fight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born-in-nineteenth-century-russia/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I think that Russia was like a lot of other countries, a lot of empires, in being a tyranny up until the early 20th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-that-russia-was-like-a-lot-of-other-countries-a-lot-of/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [“You couldn’t have established a communist regime in sixteenth-century Russia, because communism necessitates the concentration of information and resources in one hub.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/you-couldn-t-have-established-a-communist-regime-in-sixteenth-century/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“I have a thing about losers. Flaws in oneself open you up to others with flaws. Not that Dostoyevsky's characters don't generate phatos, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-have-a-thing-about-losers-flaws-in-oneself-open-you-up-to-others-2/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possibilities-one-of-the-hardest/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“But like a boat with a twisted rudder, I kept coming back to the same place. I wasn't going anywhere. I was myself, waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/but-like-a-boat-with-a-twisted-rudder-i-kept-coming-back-to-the-same/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [My best sunsets are always going to be in my home town, San Diego. Watching the sunset from the Pacific knowing that you're sleeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-foreman/my-best-sunsets-are-always-going-to-be-in-my-home-town-san-diego/) [Jon Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-foreman/) > [“Watch the sunset without speaking, just like a bird watching the sunset in complete silence!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/watch-the-sunset-without-speaking-just-like-a-bird-watching-the/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I enjoy the competition and the process of learning as we compete. The whole thing is just fascinating. I don't know what I'll do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-ellison/i-enjoy-the-competition-and-the-process-of-learning-as-we-compete-the/) [Larry Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-ellison/) > [Hell, I'm an old man. I'm 70 years old. I'm supposed to be sitting on a rocking chair watching the sunset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-emmet-walsh/hell-i-m-an-old-man-i-m-70-years-old-i-m-supposed-to-be-sitting-on-a/) [M. Emmet Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-emmet-walsh/) > [Identify the small things in life that make you feel good, and do one daily. A short walk, a few minutes of writing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate/identify-the-small-things-in-life-that-make-you-feel-good-and-do-one/) [Nate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate/) > [The best things in life are free. There is absolute joy and wonder to be had in the simplest of moments. Watching the sunset…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-best-things-in-life-are-free-there-is-absolute-joy-and-wonder-to/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [A renowned genius once asked a student, "What are you watching when you sit on a hillside in the late afternoon as the colors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-kagan/a-renowned-genius-once-asked-a-student-what-are-you-watching-when-you/) Jeremy Kagan > [“Not everytime Self Love means pampering your wants, sometimes it just means to pat your self while knowing you did the right thing by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debatrayee-banerjee/not-everytime-self-love-means-pampering-your-wants-sometimes-it-just/) [Debatrayee Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debatrayee-banerjee/) > [I love going to the beach and just sitting and watching the sunset by myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tayshia-adams/i-love-going-to-the-beach-and-just-sitting-and-watching-the-sunset-by/) [Tayshia Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tayshia-adams/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Dostoyevsky quotes > [The soul is healed by being with children. --Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-soul-is-healed-by-being-with-children-fyodor-dostoyevsky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“From an encounter in 1862... “Dickens told me,” Dostoyevsky recalled in a letter written years later, “that all the good, simple people in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/from-an-encounter-in-1862-dickens-told-me-dostoyevsky-recalled-in-a/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzo-aduba/if-they-can-learn-to-say-tchaikovsky-and-michelangelo-and-dostoyevsky/) [Uzo Aduba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzo-aduba/) > [ “\[Dostoyevsky\] eloquently proves that heartless ideas are often a source of immorality: they bring with them destructiveness, hatred, cynicism, and misanthropy. The novelist also… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-l-kline/dostoyevsky-eloquently-proves-that-heartless-ideas-are-often-a-source/) George L. Kline > [“Gogol was usually the leading social poet, while Dostoyevsky usually the leading psychological poet. The former is known as the representative of the contemporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerian-maykov/gogol-was-usually-the-leading-social-poet-while-dostoyevsky-usually/) Valerian Maykov > [“Then it happened. One night as the rain beat on the slanted kitchen roof a great spirit slipped forever into my life. I held…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fante/then-it-happened-one-night-as-the-rain-beat-on-the-slanted-kitchen/) [John Fante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fante/) > [“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possibilities-one-of-the-hardest/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [As a piece of literacy criticism, Freud's best writing is about Dostoyevsky. It's a kind of displaced literacy criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/as-a-piece-of-literacy-criticism-freud-s-best-writing-is-about/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [“You must write as if Dostoyevsky himself will be reading your novel, and Shakespeare will be acting it out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-westover/you-must-write-as-if-dostoyevsky-himself-will-be-reading-your-novel/) [Christina Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-westover/) > [In adopting the form of the adventure novel, Wells deepened it, raised its intellectual value, and brought into it elements of social philosophy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/in-adopting-the-form-of-the-adventure-novel-wells-deepened-it-raised/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“Dostoyevsky says, “love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams” (The Brothers Karamazov).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/dostoyevsky-says-love-in-action-is-a-harsh-and-dreadful-thing/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [A cultivated and decent man cannot be vain without setting a fearfully high standard for himself, and without despising and almost hating himself at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-cultivated-and-decent-man-cannot-be-vain-without-setting-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many a person has been saved from summer alcoholism, not to mention hypertoxicity, by Dostoyevsky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/many-a-person-has-been-saved-from-summer-alcoholism-not-to-mention/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [“Two kinds of writers. Those who think this life is all there is, and want to describe everything: the fall, the battle, the accouchement,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/two-kinds-of-writers-those-who-think-this-life-is-all-there-is-and/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“A novel! Why do you say this won't liberate anyone? Where does any man go to be free, whether he is poor or rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/a-novel-why-do-you-say-this-won-t-liberate-anyone-where-does-any-man/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) Browse all 99 Dostoyevsky quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Probably we’d have been better off born in nineteenth-century Russia. I’d have been Prince So-and-so and you Count Such-and-such. We’d go hunting together, fight, be rivals in love, have our metaphysical complaints, drink beer watching the sunset from the shores of the Black Sea. In our later years, the two of us would be implicated in the Something-or-other Rebellion and exiled to Siberia, where we’d die. Brilliant, don’t you think? Me, if I’d been born in the nineteenth century, I’m sure I could have written better novels. Maybe not your Dostoyevsky, but a known second-rate novelist. And what would you have been doing? Maybe you’d only have been Count Such-and-such straight through. That wouldn’t be so bad, just being Count Such-and-such. That’d be nice and nineteenth century.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born-in-nineteenth-century-russia-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dostoyevsky" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born-in-nineteenth-century-russia-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born_2914902.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Probably we’d have been better off born in nineteenth-century Russia. I’d have been Prince So-and-so and you…” — Haruki Murakami", "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": "Haruki Murakami", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Probably we’d have been better off...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born-in-nineteenth-century-russia-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/probably-we-d-have-been-better-off-born-in-nineteenth-century-russia-2/#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 } } ] } ```