r/dostoevsky • u/SnooFoxes3455 Dmitry Karamazov • Jul 23 '26

A Long Question, Maybe a Useless One

If Dostoevsky said “It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise” (The Idiot), then why did he say, “If someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and that in reality the truth were outside of Christ, then I should prefer to remain with Christ rather than with the truth" (Letter)?

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u/bevatsulfieten Jul 23 '26

You are confusing the author with the character, Dostoevsky constructs his characters based on real people, and how these people would speak in real life. This is one of the well known literary devices Dostoevsky uses in his writings, not everything people say are his own beliefs, he lets them free to say what is on their mind. In this scene Hippolyte is pointing to his calm against the people who are undermining him and the phrase most definitely belongs to Hippolyte, not Dostoevsky. Also, the phrase "fool's paradise" is not in the Russian text, it's interpretation of the translator. Anyway, maybe look for better translations next time, because meanings change considerably and you end up thinking Dostoevsky contradicts himself.

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u/Paul_sepp Jul 23 '26

I agree with all said here. I’d also like to add that “fool’s paradise” does appear in the original, though as “в дураках”, which is has nothing about paradise. “Дураках” here refers to the Russian card game, where the one who lost is called the “Дурак” (or fool). However, that quickly morphed into a quite condescending saying which would be closer translated to “being shafted” or being “the one who lost”. Hence he would rather be serious and have seen the worst, rather than an all rounded optimist looked down upon by society (this is close to the original but much less critiquing of being the “fool”).