Dostoyevski had a fascinating and unstable life. In this post, I will try to explain why can we learn affirmation of life from Dostoyevski.
I will not write about his biography, but I want to focus on one of the scariest things which he experienced. Probably, not everybody knows that Dostoyevski was sentenced to capital punishment. XIX century Russian government accused him of making the conspiration and preparing an assassination against the Emperor of Russia – Nicholas I of Russia.
Nevertheless, the famous Russian writer never admitted that he was preparing all these things, but the fact is that Russian authorities wanted to execute him.
What is most haunting in this history is the fact that he and his companions were already picked up to the place of execution, in St Petersburg. Guards split prisoners into three-man groups. A famous Russian writer stood in the second row. The shooting (which was supposed to be made by firing squad) was stopped in the last moment. The messenger of the Tsar came and delivered a letter from the Tsar canceling the sentence.
After all these circumstances, Dostoyevski was sentenced to an exile that lasted for four years.
As a result, Russian genius was describing all these happenings in his letters to his brother. This plot also appeared in Dostoevsky’s novel, “Idiot.” Today, I will focus on epistolography. All the feelings expressed in his letters are probably one of the most beautiful affirmations of life ever written.
The writer received a new, second life.
Confirmation of life appears in words written to Mikhail Dostoyevsky:
“Brother! I have not become downhearted or low-spirited. Life is everywhere life; life is in ourselves, not in what is outside us. There will be people near me, and to be a man among people and remain a man forever, not to be downhearted nor to fall in whatever misfortunes may befall me — this is life; this is the task of life. I have realized this. This idea has entered into my flesh and into my blood.”
Moreover, Russian writer is also referring to his past and writes that he has been reborn:
“When I look back at the past and think how much time has been wasted in vain, how much time was lost in delusions, in errors, in idleness, in ignorance of how to live, how I did not value time, how often I sinned against my heart and spirit, — My heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, each minute might have been an age of happiness. Si jeunesse savait!*
Now, changing my life, I am being reborn into a new form. Brother! I swear to you that I shall not lose hope, and shall preserve my spirit and heart in purity. I shall be reborn to a better thing. That is my whole hope, my whole comfort!”
*If youth only knew
Finally, while reading all these quotations, we must remember that they were written by the man who just looked in death’s face. I do not wish anyone to experience similar things in one’s life. In conclusion, I want to say that the only thing is sure; we should take to heart all the words written by Dostoyevski and try to incorporate all his advice into our life. I am sure it is worth doing it.
