Book I, Chapter 5: Elders
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky's line suggests a chilling inversion of the Biblical creation story. Instead of God making man in His image, man has sculpted the devil from his own flaws and fears. This reflects a deep skepticism about human nature, a skepticism sharpened by Dostoevsky's own near-execution and imprisonment. He had seen firsthand what men were capable of, and this line questions whether evil is truly external or something we each harbor within.