Quotes by Lev Shestov

About Lev Shestov:

Lev Isaakovich Shestov was a Russian existentialist philosopher. Born in Kiev (Russian Empire) on February 13 [O.S. January 31] 1866, he emigrated to France in 1921, fleeing from the aftermath of the October Revolution. He lived in Paris until his death on November 19, 1938.
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But it will be asked: What is the force and power of the blessings and curses of men, even if these men be such giants as Plato and Aristotle? Does truth become more true because Aristotle blesses it, or does it become error because Plato curses it? ...

Lev Shestov

Herein lies the supreme wisdom, human and divine; and the task of philosophy consists in teaching men to submit joyously to Necessity which hears nothing and is indifferent to all.

Lev Shestov

Life would again have to make superhuman efforts, "as in a battle," to break open for himself a path through the truths created by the sciences which "dream of being but cannot see it in waking reality.

Lev Shestov

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

They certified that I was sane; but I know that I am mad." This confession gives us the key to what is most important and significant in Tolstoy's hidden life.

Lev Shestov

But Dostoevsky does allow himself to ask just this very question: whether our reason has any right to judge between the possible and the impossible.

Lev Shestov

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

Author Bio

  • NameLev Shestov
  • Descriptionrussian theologian
  • BornFebruary 13, 1866
  • DiedNovember 19, 1938
  • CountryRussia
  • ProfessionPhilosopher