‘ “Paradise”, he went on, ‘lies hidden within all of us- here it lies hidden in me now, and if I desire it, it will become a reality for me tomorrow and remain with me the rest of my life.”…..
…..’ ” And that each of us is responsible for all men and all things, apart from his own sins, you were quite right in thinking that, and it is wonderful how you could suddenly comprehend this thought in all its fulness. And in very truth, as soon as men understand this thought, the Kingdom of Heaven will be theirs, not in fancy, but in reality.” ‘
…..’ ” Believe me, this dream, as you call it, will come true, without doubt; it will come true, but not now, for every process has its law. It’s a matter of the soul, a psychological thing. To make the world anew, men must turn into another path psychologically. Until you have become, in actual fact, a brother to every one, brotherhood will not come to pass. No sort of science, no kind of self-interest, will ever enable men to share their property and their rights with equal consideration for all. Every one will think his share too small and they will be always envying, complaining, and destroying one another. You ask when it will come to pass; it will come to pass, but first the period of human isolation must be concluded.” ‘
….’ ” For nowadays everyone strives to keep his individuality as distinct as possible, wishes to secure the greatest possible fulness of life for himself; but meantime all his efforts result not in fulness of life but in utter self-destruction, for instead of self-realization he arrives at complete isolation. For in our age all mankind has split up into units, each withdraws into his own hole; each one holds aloof, hides himself and hides what he has, from the rest, and he ends by repelling others and being repelled by them. He heaps riches in solitude and thinks, ‘How strong I am now and how secure,’ and in his folly he does not understand that the more he heaps up, the more he sinks into self-destructive importance. For he is accustomed to rely upon himself alone and to cut himself off from the whole; he has trained his soul not to believe in the help of others, in men and in humanity, and only trembles for fear he should lose money and the rights that he has won for himself. Everywhere in these days men have ceased to understand that true security is to be found in social solidarity rather than isolated individual effort. But this dreadful isolation must inevitably come to an end, and all will suddenly understand how unnaturally they are separated from one another. It will be the spirit of the time, and people will marvel that they have sat so long in darkness and did not see the light……” ‘
~Excerpt from Dostoevsky’s, The Brothers Karamazov, Chapter 6, The Russian Monk, from the words of the “Mysterious Visitor.”
The Undoing of Me 