Crime and Punishment

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

And do you know, Sonia, that low ceilings and tiny rooms cramp the soul and the mind?

that men won’t change and that nobody can alter it and that it’s not worth wasting effort over it.

And if once a girl’s heart is moved to pity, it’s more dangerous than anything. She is bound to want to ‘save him,’ to bring him to his senses, and lift him up and draw him to nobler aims, and restore him to new life and usefulness—well, we all know how far such dreams can go.

Nothing in the world is harder than speaking the truth and nothing easier than flattery.

Everyone thinks of himself, and he lives most gaily who knows best how to deceive himself.

“Rodya, my darling, my first born,”

Water wears out a stone.