Leo Tolstoy
Author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina
Most quoted
"One of the most widespread superstitions is that every man has his own special, definite qualities: that he is kind, cruel, wise, stupid, energetic, apathetic, etc. Men are not like that... men are like rivers: the water is the same in each, and alike in all; but every river is narrow here, is more rapid there, here slower, there broader, now clear, now cold, now dull, now warm. It is the same with men."
— from War and Peace, 1869
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness."
— from Family Happiness, 1878
"The anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order, and in the idea of a state of society based on freedom and equality, in the idea of a future social order; only they are on the wrong track in believing that this state of society can be brought about by violence."
— from Letter to a Non-Commissioned Officer, 1900
All quotes by Leo Tolstoy (276)
The true life of man is in his conscience.
To believe in God is not to accept the existence of God, but to accept God's will.
The highest good is love.
Patriotism is slavery.
The church is a human institution, and therefore fallible.
The greatest untruth is the belief that there is no truth.
The only certain happiness in life is to live for others.
The root of all evil is money.
The more a man is absorbed in his own thoughts, the less he understands the thoughts of others.
The greatest error is to imagine that we are alone.
The Christian teaching, in its true meaning, demands the abolition of all violence.
The purpose of life is to increase love.
The greatest obstacle to living is expectation.
The only way to be free is to be obedient to God.
The greatest good is to do good to others.
The true faith is not a belief in something, but a way of life.
The only true revolution is a spiritual one.
The more we love, the more we suffer.
The only way to be truly happy is to live in the present moment.
The greatest evil is indifference.
Contemporaries of Leo Tolstoy
Other Literatures born within 50 years of Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910).