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There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man.
How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.

— Leo Tolstoy

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Notes from Wikiquote

As quoted in The Artist's Way at Work : Riding the Dragon (1999) by Mark A. Bryan with Julia Cameron and Catherine A. Allen, p. 160

Variants

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

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Society

More quotes by Leo Tolstoy

I cannot recall those years without horror, loathing, and heart-rending pain.

Confession (1882)

Art is a human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen.

What is Art? (1897)

The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.

War and Peace (1865)

The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people.

What Is To Be Done? (1886)

God is that infinite All of which man knows himself to be a finite part.
God alone exists truly. Man manifests Him in time, space and matter.

All Leo Tolstoy quotes →

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One country, one constitution, one destiny.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Leo Tolstoy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.