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Leo Tolstoy on Character

1828–1910 Russia

← All quotes by Leo Tolstoy

8 quotes

The further you progress, the higher the ideal of perfection toward which you strive rises.

All state obligations are against the conscience of a Christian: the oath of allegiance, taxes, law proceedings and military service.

The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894)

The first rule of achieving goodness is this: think only about self-perfection.

Perfection is impossible without humility. Why should I strive for perfection, if I am already good enough?

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)

They who have decided to dedicate their lives to spiritual perfection will never be dissatisfied or unhappy, because all that they want is in their power.

In order to feel complete love, we can either delude ourselves that some imperfect object of our love is “perfection” or we can love perfection, which is God.

Repentance always precedes perfection.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Leo Tolstoy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.