Three ways to live

My brother, Kirill, quoted Dostoevsky’s opinion on the topic of judging others (from “Brothers Karamazov”, book 6, chapter 3.). I am posting a shorter version here - for complete quote , see Kirill’s reply to my original “Judging others” post.

Can a Man judge his Fellow Creatures? Faith to the End.

Remember particularly that you cannot be a judge of anyone. For no one can judge a criminal until he recognizes that he is just such a criminal as the man standing before him, and that he perhaps is more than all men to blame for that crime. When he understands that, he will be able to be a judge. Though that sounds absurd, it is true. If I had been righteous myself, perhaps there would have been no criminal standing before me.

If the evil-doing of men moves you to indignation and overwhelming distress, even to a desire for vengeance on the evil-doers, shun above all things that feeling. Go at once and seek suffering for yourself, as though you were yourself guilty of that wrong. Accept that suffering and bear it and your heart will find comfort, and you will understand that you too are guilty, for you might have been a light to the evil-doers, even as the one man sinless, and you were not a light to them. If you had been a light, you would have lightened the path for others too, and the evil-doer might perhaps have been saved by your light from his sin.

Do note that Dostoevsky is not advocating abstaining from judgment, as superficial reading might suggest. Instead he says, “When he (a man who wants to judge) understands that (that he in some sense is as guilty as the criminal), he will be able to be a judge.” I will probably make another post clarify this point.