“Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.”
“It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.”
“He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.”
“if Stavrogin believes, he does not believe that he believes. And if he does not believe, he does not believe that he does not believe.”
“The agnostic has a very curious notion of religion. He is convinced that a man who says 'I believe in God' should at once become perfect; if this does not happen, then the believer must be a fraud and a hypocrite. He thinks that adherence to a religion is the end of the road, whereas it is in fact only the beginning of a very long and sometimes very rough road. He looks for consistency in religious people, however aware he may be of inconsistencies in himself”
“No man is disbeliever! Everyone is believer! All men believe in something! If a man does not believe in God, He is a believer too, because he simply believes that God does not exist! Don’t give yourself airs just because you believe in something since everyman believes in something! Always be humble!”