Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy; 9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth28 August 1828
CountryRussian Federation
bad evil good granted men power precisely present rule saying taken time
In saying that without the power of the state, evil men would rule over the good. It is taken for granted that the good are precisely those who at the present time have power, and the bad the same who are no subjugated.
goodness minutes whole-life
but my life now, my whole life apart from anything that can happen to me, every minute of it is no more meaningless, as it was before, but it has the positive meaning of goodness, which I have the power to put into it.
purpose life-is goodness
The purpose of life is to bring forth goodness. Now, in this life.
rewards causes goodness
If goodness has causes, it is not goodness; if it has effects, a reward, it is not goodness either. So goodness is outside the chain of cause and effect.
good-life animal vegetarianism
If he be really and seriously seeking to live a good life, the first thing from which he will abstain will always be the use of animal food, because ...its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to the moral feeling - killing.
flight highest human wisdom
The only thing that we know is that we know nothing and that is the highest flight of human wisdom.
beautiful beauty hear illusion strange suppose thoughts wise woman
What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness! A beautiful woman utters absurdities: we listen, and we hear not the absurdities but wise thoughts
church convinced crafty evil gross practice teaching theory witchcraft
I am convinced that the teaching of the church is in theory a crafty and evil lie, and in practice a concoction of gross superstition and witchcraft
people poverty given
The more is given the less the people will work for themselves, and the less they work the more their poverty will increase.
food health animal
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.
easier practice principle produce ten volumes
It is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writing than to put one principle into practice
lies lies-and-lying pleasure seeking
Some mathematician has said pleasure lies not in discovering truth, but in seeking it.
kinds love minds scholars-and-scholarship true
If it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.
definite generosity happiness joy life object outside people personal themselves
Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness