Don’t lie to yourself

“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 no respect he ceases to love.”

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

By far, this is the quote by Dostoyevsky that has had the most impact on me. Privately, to prioritize my time and energy, professionally to look through the intranet industry I work in. Some things can become the truth, just because we repeat them too many times for ourselves. Finally, we become like the frog entering the cold water, and never noticing the temperature gradually rising until it dies from not escaping the boiling water. Nobody wants to be bitter on the deathbed, but people are every day. Don’t be one of them.

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself” is a good start to any day. We all have limited resources and we owe it to ourselves, and others, to make the best of it. By telling ourselves the truth regarding who we are, were we stand, what feels good, what feels bad, and where we should move, we listen more to our hearts than to our minds. I promise, you will never regret that. Ceasing to love is never worth it.

The Double by Dostoyevsky – a movie that saves this year of movies

[blockquote cite=”Dostoyevsky” type=”left, center, right”]We have all lost touch with life, we all limp, each to a greater or lesser degree.[/blockquote]

No matter how hard Godzilla pounds its enemies, angry people chase bitter people in cars, or secret agents pretend to be happy, none of them beat this movie this year: The Double based on Dostoyevsky’s work.

An interesting take on what would happen if we met ourselves, but with different personality traits. And it goes back to the choices we make in life, the crossroads where we select which way to take. Learning from another version of yourself, formed by other impressions, but still the same as you.

If you want to read the original book, I found the Double online at Penn State University.