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Leo Tolstoy Quotes
1828–1910 Russia
Lev Nikolayevitch Tolstoy [Ле́в Никола́евич Толсто́й, usually rendered Leo Tolstoy, or sometimes Tolstoi] (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910) was a Russian writer, philosopher and social activist (social critic), whose novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina are internationally praised classics of world literature. He was a major influence on the development of Christian anarchism and pacifism, contributing to such nonviolent resistance movements as those of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and James Bevel.
Russia Academics Anarchists Aristocrats Educators Also known as: Leo Tolstoi, Leo, Count Tolstoy, Lev Nikolayevitch Tolstoy, Lev Tolstoy, Tolstoy, Tolstoy, Leo
Random Leo Tolstoy quote
215 quotes
By words one transmits thoughts to another, by means of art, one transmits feelings.
What is Art? (1897)
The first rule of achieving goodness is this: think only about self-perfection.
Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.
War and Peace (1865)
The strongest proof that in the name of “science” we pursue unworthy and sometimes even harmful things is the existence of a science of punishment.
A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.
Writings on Civil Disobedience and Nonviolence (1886)
Never did Christ utter a single word attesting to a personal resurrection and a life beyond the grave.
My Religion (1884)
I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders.
My Religion (1884)
Perfection is impossible without humility. Why should I strive for perfection, if I am already good enough?
Every person has only one purpose: to find perfection in goodness. Therefore, only that knowledge is necessary which leads to this.
It is as if a man, who was given a blade so marvelously keen that it would sever anything, should use its edge for driving in nails.
Patriotism and Christianity (1896)
The whole life of the upper classes is a constant inconsistency. The more delicate a man's conscience is, the more painful this contradiction is to him.
The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894)
You worldly-minded people are most unfortunate! You are surrounded with sorrows and troubles overhead and underfoot and to the right and to the left, and you are enigmas even to yourselves.
The State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens.
In the spiritual realm nothing is indifferent: what is not useful is harmful.
A Letter to a Hindu (1908)
The relation of word to thought, and the creation of new concepts is a complex, delicate and enigmatic process unfolding in our soul.
Pedagogical Writings (1903)
All our problems are caused by forgetting what lives within us, and we sell our souls for the "bowl of stew" of bodily satisfactions.
When we do not love, we sleep, we are children of the dust — but love, and you are a god, you are pure, as on the first day of creation.
For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.
Confession (1882)
When people behave badly they always invent a philosophy of life which represents their bad actions to be not bad actions at all, but merely results of unalterable laws beyond their control.
The Slavery of Our Times (1890)
Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, the horrors of disease, and agonies of the soul, but all the time his most tormenting tragedy has been, is, and will always be, the tragedy of the bedroom.”
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