>I don't understand how, up to now, an atheist could know there is no God and not kill himself at once. To recognize that there is no God, and not to recognize at the same time that you have become God, is an absurdity, otherwise you must necessarily kill yourself. Once you recognize it, you are king, and you will not kill yourself but live in the chiefest glory. But one, the one who is first, must necessarily kill himself, otherwise who will begin and prove it? It is I who will necessarily kill myself in order to begin and prove it.
>I am still God against my will, and I am unhappy, because it is my duty to proclaim self-will. Everyone is unhappy, because everyone is afraid to proclaim self-will. That is why man has been so unhappy and poor up to now, because he was afraid to proclaim the chief point of self-will and was self-willed only on the margins, like a schoolboy. I am terribly unhappy, because I am terrible afraid. Fear is man's curse...But I will proclaim self-will, it is my duty to believe that I do not believe. I will begin, and end, and open the door. And save. Only this one thing will save all men and in the next generation transform them physically. for in the present physical aspect, so far as I have thought, it is in no way possible for man to be without the former God. For three years I have been searching for the attribute of my divinity, and I have found it: the attribute of my divinity is--Self-will! That is all, by which I can show in the main point my insubordination and my new fearsome freedom. For it is very fearsome. I kill myself to show my insubordination and my new fearsome freedom.”
Was Kirilov right?
What did he mean by this?
>self
>God
>freedom
>unhappy
>will
Spookiest thread in ages
>>7604463
is this in the fucking book?
I heard Dosto did bad pseudophilosophizing in his dumb novels but holy shit
>>7604487
youre a fucking sub-moron, mate
>>7604487
>I heard
I had some trouble with Brothers K and ultimately put it down. Should I give Demons a shot before trying again?
>>7604463
most retarded thing I ever read
>I agree. I love Dostoyevsky but everyone has been saying Demons isn't that good. This passage seems pretty fookin good
It's the least Dostoevskian novel out of his major works, in my opinion; very little time is spent philosophizing like you see in the OP's quotes, and there isn't a lot of character development on some individuals that had a lot of potential, particularly Stavrogin. But I've heard people praise it as his best or second best work, so I'm probably an outlier in this. Still, I didn't really like it.
>>7604463
"Translations are garbage, especially the Penguin ones."
That's what he meant.
>>7604584
imo brothers k should be the last of his you read
start with notes from underground and then read C & P
>>7604620
Underrated post
>>7604505
Currently reading it. Its pretty bad.