This novel is largely inspired by the content of A Writer's Diary (also known as The Diary of a Writer, 1876-1877, 1880-1881), where Dostoevsky shares his philosophical and spiritual concerns. One such concern is the appropriate relationship between humans and God. In a letter where he equates personal immortality with God, Dostoevsky asks, "If there is no immortality, I need but live out my appointed day, and let the rest go hang . . . . Why am I to live decently and do good, if I die irrevocably here below?" This unsettling thought shapes Ivan's philosophy. Early in the story, in Book Two, titled "An Unfortunate Gathering," Ivan confesses in front of his family, the elder Zossima, an acquaintance, and several monks (the meeting takes place at a monastery, which Dostoevsky studied by visiting one to understand monastic life) that he has openly claimed morality and even love are entirely dependent on the belief in immortality. He argues that if this belief were to be lost, "not only love but every living force maintaining the life of the world would at once be dried up. Moreover, nothing then would be immoral, everything would be lawful." When Zossima asks if Ivan truly believes this, the young intellectual replies, "Yes, that was my contention. There is no virtue if there is no immortality."