Dostoevsky understood human nature better than modern psychology.

In Dostoyevsky’s most famous short work White Nights, two characters—Nastenka and the unnamed Dreamer—fall in love in less than a week by baring their souls to one another and revealing their deepest secrets. At one point in the book, the Dreamer wonders why more people don’t open up to each other.

With that observation, Dostoyevsky hits on the most important ingredient of falling in love and creating intimacy: vulnerability. The more open you are with someone about your inner world, the more likely they are to fall in love with you (though sometimes to a detriment).