Lev Shestov

Darwin Dostoevsky preservation destruction species

“If Darwin had seen in life what Dostoevsky saw, he would not have talked of the law of the preservation of species, but of its destruction.”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

suffering buy judge

“Suffering "buys" something, and this something possesses a certain value for all of us, for common consciousness; by suffering we buy the right to judge.”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

science realist medieval philosopher

“The man of science, whether he knows it or not (most often, obviously, he does know it), whether he wishes it or not (ordinarily he does not wish it), cannot help but be a realist in the medieval sense of the term. He is distinguished from the philosopher only by the fact that the philosopher must, in addition, explain and justify the realism practiced by science”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

earth beginning end

“(...)on earth "everything has a beginning and nothing has an end.”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

philosophy uncertainty reassureupset

“The business of philosophy is to teach man to live in uncertainty... not to reassure him, but to upset him.”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

broken man deprived acknowledge position

“More striking still, a broken man is generally deprived of everything except the ability to acknowledge and feel his position.”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

definition truth Descartes clare et distincte clarity distinctne

“Whatever our definition of truth may be, we can never renounce Descartes' clare et distincte (clarity and distinctness).”

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)

truth man pursue

"It is not man who pursues truth, but truth man."

― Lev Shestov (1866-1938)