Christ knew that by bread alone you cannot reanimate man. If there were no spiritual life, no ideal of Beauty, man would pine away, die, go mad, kill himself or give himself to pagan fantasies. And as Christ, the ideal of Beauty in Himself and his Word, he decided it was better to implant the ideal of Beauty in the soul. If it exists in the soul, each would be the brother of everyone else and then, of course, working for each other, all would also be rich. Whereas if you give them bread, they might become enemies to each other out of boredom. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
About This Quote

The poor have been with us from the beginning of time. No matter how much we have tried to feed them, they have not been able to live by bread alone. In early times, societies had a different attitude about the poor. In most cultures, they were seen as a burden to society.

And so the people would often go hungry. They could not do anything for themselves and so no one would want to help them. It was a horrible situation that needed to be eradicated.

Christ knew that the only way to solve this problem was to provide a spiritual food for men that would not just provide sustenance but would also bring life and beauty, hope and love.

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More Quotes By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  1. Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having...

  2. What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.

  3. The soul is healed by being with children.

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  5. To love someone means to see them as God intended them.

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