Paradox

A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense but which, once thought through, reveals a truth.

In Demons

I am an egoist, so be an egoist too. I do not compel; everything depends on your will, and whatever you say will be done.

She tells the young woman to be "an egoist" and declares that she does not compel, that everything "depends on your will." The sentence asks for free choice in the tone of an order, and it is this contradiction that shows how the decision has already been made.

Part One: The Father of the Demons, Varvara Petrovna

Why is it that all these desperate socialists and communists are at the same time incredible misers, hoarders, proprietors, and to such an extent that the more socialist, the farther they have gone, the stronger a proprietor they become...

Part One: The Father of the Demons, Stepan Trofimovich

He does not exist, but he exists. There is no pain in the stone, but in the fear of the stone there is pain. God is the pain of the fear of death. Whoever overcomes pain and fear, that very one will become god.

Part One: Threads Come Together, Kirillov

That is so, she said: the Mother of God is the great mother, the damp earth, and in that there is a great joy for man. And every anguish of the earth and every tear of the earth is joy for us.

Part One: Threads Come Together, Marya Timofeyevna, repeating an old penitent

Man is unhappy because he does not know that he is happy; only for that reason.

Part Two: The Night of the Creditors, Kirillov

Listen, Father Tikhon: I want to forgive myself, and this is my main goal, my whole goal! [...] I know that only then will the vision disappear. That is why I seek a suffering without measure, I seek it myself. Do not be frightened. If you believe that you can forgive yourself and attain that forgiveness in this world, then you believe in everything!

With Tikhon: The Suppressed Confession, Stavrogin and Tikhon

I am obliged to shoot myself, because the fullest point of my self-will is to kill myself.

Part Three: The Last Decision, Kirillov

The main thing is that I myself believe in myself when I lie. The hardest thing in life is to live and not lie... and... and not to believe one's own lie, yes, yes, that is exactly it.

Part Three: The Last Wandering, Stepan Trofimovich