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The Brothers Karamazov Suffering Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's translation.

Quote #10

"On the other hand, what about my conscience? I'll be running away from suffering! [...] To run away from crucifixion!" (11.4.57)

As in Quote #8, Dmitri continues to draw parallels between himself and Jesus, here by describing his ordeal as a kind of "crucifixion."

Quote #11

[Ivan and Katerina] were some sort of enemies in love with each other. (11.7.60)

Unlike Dmitri and Grushenka, Ivan and Katerina are still stuck in a love-hate relationship. Neither of them are able to let go of their pride and are consequently doomed to hurt each other and themselves.

Quote #12

And as he entered his room, something icy suddenly touched his heart, like a recollection, or, rather, a reminder, of something loathsome and tormenting that was precisely in that room now. [...] Apparently something there, some object, irritated him, troubled him, tormented him. (11.8.148)

One consequence of Ivan's intellectual pride is that he becomes a religious skeptic. But this skepticism causes him such enormous suffering that he eventually goes mad. In this quote, he encounters the devil.