How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Constance Garnett's translation.
Quote #7
This retort-made man is sometimes so nonplussed in the presence of his antithesis that with all his exaggerated consciousness he genuinely thinks of himself as a mouse and not a man. It may be an acutely conscious mouse, yet it is a mouse, while the other is a man. […] The base and nasty desire to vent that spite on its assailant rankles perhaps even more nastily in it than in l'homme de la nature et de la vérité . For through his innate stupidity the latter looks upon his revenge as justice pure and simple; while in consequence of his acute consciousness the mouse does not believe in the justice of it. (1.3.2)
When a man is conscious, the argument goes, he realizes that no act can be truly justified. Therefore, consciousness leads to inertia. But take a closer look at the Underground Man's first claim: no actions can be truly justified. Consciousness makes us doubt what we do. If a man acts, it must be because he isn't conscious. The Underground Man has ignored a key possibility here: a man who is conscious, who knows his actions aren't justified but who acts anyway. The "false premise," then, is that action requires the belief of justification.
Quote #8
I invented adventures for myself and made up a life, so as at least to live in some way. […] I tried hard to be in love. I suffered, too, gentlemen, I assure you. In the depth of my heart there was no faith in my suffering, only a faint stir of mockery […], and it was all from ennui, […]; inertia overcame me. You know the direct, legitimate fruit of consciousness is inertia, that is, conscious sitting-with-the-hands-folded. (1.5.1)
The Underground Man sees all his actions as "faking it," so he doesn't see a point in changing anything about himself. Regardless of his motives, however, his actions have real consequences. If he sees inertia taking over his life, it is because he chooses to keep things as they are.
Quote #9
Oh, gentlemen, do you know, perhaps I consider myself an intelligent man, only because all my life I have been able neither to begin nor to finish anything. (1.5.1)
Again, we have to remember that all the definitions we're working with have been crafted by the Underground Man. According to him, intelligence = hyper-consciousness. Since hyper-consciousness = inertia, any intelligent man is stuck the way he is. But all the narrator has really done here is to define the intelligent man as a version of himself. Tricky.