All 15 Uses of
principle
in
Crime and Punishment, by Dostoyevsky
- Principles!†
Chpt 2.4principles = basic rules or beliefs
- You are worked by principles, as it were by springs; you won't venture to turn round on your own account.†
Chpt 2.4
- If a man is a nice fellow, that's the only principle I go upon.†
Chpt 2.4 *principle = basic rule or belief
- And so to speak, principles...†
Chpt 2.5principles = basic rules or beliefs
- She could give way and accept a great deal even of what was contrary to her convictions, but there was a certain barrier fixed by honesty, principle and the deepest convictions which nothing would induce her to cross.†
Chpt 3.1principle = basic rule or belief
- The old woman was only an illness....I was in a hurry to overstep....I didn't kill a human being, but a principle!†
Chpt 3.6
- I killed the principle, but I didn't overstep, I stopped on this side....I was only capable of killing.†
Chpt 3.6
- And it seems I wasn't even capable of that... Principle?†
Chpt 3.6
- She rushed at me first with her nails, she pulled out all my whiskers....It's permissable for anyone, I should hope, to defend himself and I never allow anyone to use violence to me on principle, for it's an act of despotism.†
Chpt 5.1on principle = because of a basic rule or belief
- I am not going on principle, not to take part in the revolting convention of memorial dinners, that's why!†
Chpt 5.1
- And although I cannot, I confess, in principle sympathise with private charity, for it not only fails to eradicate the evil but even promotes it, yet I must admit that I saw your action with pleasure—yes, yes, I like it.†
Chpt 5.1principle = basic rule or belief
- "I saw it, I saw it," Lebeziatnikov repeated, "and though it is against my principles, I am ready this very minute to take any oath you like before the court, for I saw how you slipped it in her pocket.†
Chpt 5.3principles = basic rules or beliefs
- I can never remember without laughter how I once seduced a lady who was devoted to her husband, her children, and her principles.†
Chpt 6.4
- And the lady really had principles—of her own, anyway.†
Chpt 6.4
- I flattered her shamelessly, and as soon as I succeeded in getting a pressure of the hand, even a glance from her, I would reproach myself for having snatched it by force, and would declare that she had resisted, so that I could never have gained anything but for my being so unprincipled.†
Chpt 6.4unprincipled = lacking or not based on basic beliefsstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unprincipled means not and reverses the meaning of principled. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
Definition:
a basic rule or belief
The exact meaning of principle can depend upon its context. For example:
- "our guiding principles" -- basic moral beliefs that guide decisions and behavior
- "electromagnetic principles" -- rules describing how the world works
- "She lacks principles." -- lacks moral guidelines
- "We agree in principle." -- about important basic beliefs