Fyodor Dostoevsky

1821–1881 · Russian novelist & philosopher

Fyodor Dostoevsky was the Russian novelist behind Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons and The Brothers Karamazov, works celebrated for their psychological depth and moral seriousness. His fame as a diagnostician of the modern soul makes him a magnet for invented “prophetic” quotes. This anti-tolerance aphorism — framed to read as a prediction of “cancel culture” — is one such fabrication, found nowhere in his writings.

Traced to source

2 quotes we’ve traced to Fyodor Dostoevsky

“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons”

Disputed

“Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles”

Disputed

Not actually Fyodor Dostoevsky

Often misattributed to Fyodor Dostoevsky

Famous lines widely pinned on Fyodor Dostoevsky that we’ve traced to someone else.

“The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the deeper the grief, the closer is God!”

actually Apollon Maykov

“Trust no one in whom the desire to punish is strong”

actually Friedrich Nietzsche

Did they really say it?

Thought Fyodor Dostoevsky said something else?

Type a quote you think Fyodor Dostoevsky said — we’ll tell you what we know, or point you to the best sources.