Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.
Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment, Part III, Chapter V (1866) Translated by Constance Garnett
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When and why it was written
- When
- From Crime and Punishment, 1866.
- Why
- Raskolnikov says this while defending his theory of extraordinary people.
What it means
Dostoevsky gives the line to a man justifying himself, so it carries both truth and danger. Depth does bring pain.
What it does not bring is permission, which is what the rest of the novel shows.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
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Crime and Punishment, 1866
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