HomeQuotesFyodor Dostoevsky
Literature and scripture
Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.
The Brothers Karamazov, Book II, Chapter 2, 1880
Translated by Constance Garnett · Literature and scripture
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What this means, and why it matters to a father

Father Zosima's counsel on self-deception: the habit of lying to oneself, even in small things, corrupts the capacity to see truth at all—the most dangerous of moral failures.

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