Leo Tolstoy Quotes
6 min read ⌚
Leo Tolstoy’s aura and presence continue to inspire new generations years after his death. His words echo through time, forging new relationships and building fortresses made of famous quotes and insights.
The enigma of his existence added to the everlasting fire of wisdom continues to support the uprising of rebels, who question the system of power and influence.
Tolstoy is hailed as one of greatest novelists of all time; his legacy rises above the concept of “time” and other philosophies which failed to prove beneficial.
Born in a Tsardom of Russia, he quickly faced hardship, poverty, and trouble. He was the son of a veteran who participated in one of Russia’s bloodiest patriotic clashes in 1812.
The transformation from an army man, to a pacifist who despised the aftermath of war, is an unexplainable mix of events that shaped the course of his life.
Before enlisting in the army, he tried his luck at the Kazan University, where he studied law.
The teachers there labeled him as stubborn, and ignorant to absorb the teachings. He quickly became inspired to dive deep into the essence of human existence and exploit its real mysteries.
In 1861, Leo met Victor Hugo, who helped to climb up the ladder, and inquire into the political and social agenda of 19th century Europe. His views were sharpened and his mind superior, ready to embark on an unparalleled journey.
Ignited by passion and determination take the measure of the society and social order, he began his writing career.
In this article, we unveil only the most life-altering, thought-provoking, and captivating quotes.
Stay tuned!
Leo Tolstoy Quotes – Top 10
He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking. Click To Tweet There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness, and truth. Click To Tweet Art is not a handicraft; it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced. Click To Tweet Even in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make six. Click To Tweet 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. Click To Tweet All happy families resemble one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Click To Tweet All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do. Click To Tweet Joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. Click To Tweet 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. Click To Tweet He never chooses an opinion; he just wears whatever happens to be in style. Click To TweetWe are not through yet! Leo Tolstoy as a figure of the 19th century brought to life many ideas that were not known to the ordinary peasant.
Instead of adhering to violence, and war – he satirically speaks against those who assume that they have the right and power to choose on behalf of those who are weak.
Remember, your life is in your keeping alone, you mustn’t point your fingers at someone else and accuse them for your misfortune.
Let’s crack a bottle open and celebrate with more quotes:
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina
Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.
If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.
He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.
Spring is the time of plans and projects.
Is it really possible to tell someone else what one feels?
Rummaging in our souls, we often dig up something that ought to have lain there unnoticed.
Be bad, but at least don’t be a liar, a deceiver!
Love. The reason I dislike that word is that it means too much for me, far more than you can understand.
All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.
Anything is better than lies and deceit!
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy – War and Peace
We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.
Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.
It’s not given to people to judge what’s right or wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.
You can love a person dear to you with human love, but an enemy can only be loved with divine love.
Everything I know, I know because of love.
Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself.
Human science fragments everything in order to understand it, kills everything in order to examine it.
Everything depends on upbringing.
Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy – The Death of Ivan Ilych
The example of a syllogism that he had studied in Kiesewetter’s logic: Caius is a man, men are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal, had throughout his whole life seemed to him right only in relation to Caius, but not to him at all.
The very fact of the death of someone close to them aroused in all who heard about it, as always, a feeling of delight that he had died and they hadn’t.
It can’t be that life is so senseless and horrible. But if it really has been so horrible and senseless, why must I die and die in agony? There is something wrong!
It is impossible that all men have been doomed to suffer this awful horror!
Always the same. Now a spark of hope flashes up, then a sea of despair rages, and always a pain; always pain, always despair, and always the same.
What tormented Ivan Ilych most was the deception, the lie, which for some reason they all accepted, that he was not dying but was simply ill, and that he only need keep quiet and undergo a treatment and then something very good would result.
There was no deceiving himself: something terrible, new, and more important than anything before in his life, was taking place within him of which he alone was aware.
It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false.
Death is finished, he said to himself. It is no more!
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy – Resurrection
Every man and every living creature has a sacred right to the gladness of springtime.
It was clear that everything considered important and good was insignificant and repulsive, and that all this glamour and luxury hid the old well-known crimes, which not only remained unpunished but were adorned with all the splendor men can devise.
The whole trouble lies in that people think that there are conditions excluding the necessity of love in their intercourse with a man, but such conditions do not exist. Things may be treated without love; one may chop wood, make bricks, forge iron without love, but one can no more deal with people without love than one can handle bees without care.
There are many faiths, but the spirit is one — in me, and in you, and in him. So that if everyone believes himself, all will be united; everyone be himself, and all will be as one.
Military life in general depraves men. It places them in conditions of complete idleness, that is, absence of all rational and useful work; frees them from their everyday human duties, which it replaces by merely conventional duties to the honor of the regiment, the uniform, the flag; and while giving them on the one hand absolute power over other men, also puts them into conditions of servile obedience to those of higher ranks than themselves.
Final Notes
We want to finish this in high-fashion and leave you to pick your favorite one! Leo Tolstoy sure did leave a mark on humanity, and through the written word he gave us a piece of wisdom that will last for ages.
Use your time wisely, contemplate and discover your mission in this world.
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
