Judeo-Christian Worldview:

Tolstoy Quotes

Truth

Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold. Leo Tolstoy
Music is the shorthand of emotion. Leo Tolstoy

Even in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make six. Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy^{[note 1]} (/ˈtoʊlstɔɪ, ˈtɒl-/;^[2] Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой,^{[note 2]} IPA: [ˈlʲef nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tɐlˈstoj] (listen); 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 who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.^[3] He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909; the fact that he never won is a major controversy.^[4][5][6][7]

More Tolstoy Quotes

Character Education
An arrogant person considers himself perfect. This is the chief harm of arrogance. It interferes with a person’s main task in life – becoming a better person. Leo Tolstoy

Boredom: the desire for desires. Leo Tolstoy

Definition of a Politician:

I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means – except by getting off his back. Leo Tolstoy

The chief difference between words and deeds is that words are always intended for men for their approbation, but deeds can be done only for God. Leo Tolstoy

If you want to be happy, be. Leo Tolstoy

Government and Society

We must not only cease our present desire for the growth of the state, but we must desire its decrease, its weakening. Leo Tolstoy

Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us. Leo Tolstoy

Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal.

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

Bio

Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828,^[3] Tolstoy’s notable works include the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878),^[8] often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction.^[3] He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. His fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), Family Happiness (1859), “After the Ball” (1911), and Hadji Murad (1912). He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays.

In the 1870s, Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession (1882). His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist.^[3] His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), had a profound impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mahatma Gandhi^[9] and Martin Luther King Jr.^[10] He also became a dedicated advocate of Georgism, the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his writing, particularly Resurrection (1899).