Leo Tolstoy - Quodid

About

Picture of Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (; Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой, IPA: [ˈlʲef nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tɐlˈstoj] ; 9 September [O.S. 28 August] 1828 – 20 November [O.S. 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time.

Quotes from Leo Tolstoy

The equality of the capitalist and the laborer is the same as the equality of two fighters, when the hands of one are bound, while a gun is put into the hands of the other, and equal conditions are strictly observed for both in the fight.

equality capitalism

Though it is possible to utter words only with the intention to fulfill the will of God, it is very difficult not to think about the impression which they will produce on men and not to form them accordingly. But deeds you can do quite unknown to men, only for God. And such deeds are the greatest joy that a man can experience.

God words experience joy

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

change self world

He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began.

It is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writings than to put one principle into practice.

philosophy writing effort practice

If there existed no external means for dimming their consciences, one-half of the men would at once shoot themselves, because to live contrary to one's reason is a most intolerable state, and all men of our time are in such a state.

time conscience reason suicide

How important the concept of God is, and how instead of valuing what has been given us, we with light hearts spurn it because of absurdities that have been attached to it.

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

Our body is a machine for living. It is organized for that; it is its nature. Let life go on in it unhindered and let it defend itself. It will do more than if you paralyze it by encumbering it with remedies.

living nature body

Christ could certainly not have established the Church, that is, the institution we now call by that name, for nothing resembling our present conception of the Church—with its sacraments, its hierarchy, and especially its claim to infallibility—is to be found either in Christ's words or in the conceptions of the men of his time.

Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.

Though the doctors treated him, let his blood, and gave him medications to drink, he nevertheless recovered.

The more we live by our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life.

What she did not know, and would never have believed, was that though her soul seemed to have been grown over with an impenetrable layer of mold, some delicate blades of grass, young and tender, were already pushing their way upwards, destined to take root and send out living shoots so effectively that her all-consuming grief would soon be lost and forgotten. The wound was healing from inside.

It is within my power either to serve God, or not to serve Him. Serving Him I add to my own good and the good of the whole world. Not serving Him, I forfeit my own good and deprive the world of that good, which was in my power to create.

1
2
›