Quotessence
Home / Authors / Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenPeopleIfsLifeLoveKnowsInspirationalWorldHumansArt

Famous Leo Tolstoy Quotes

“Always the same. Now a spark of hope flashes up, then a sea of despair rages, and always pain; always pain, always despair, and always the same.”

PainSeaDespairRageSparksFlash
Book:The Complete Works of Leo Tolstoy: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Memoirs, Letters & Essays on Art, Religion and Politics: Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilych, A Confession, The Cossacks, Correspondences with Gandhi, The Kreutzer Sonata, Fables and Stories for Childrenand Many More
Create image

“But 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 in Christ's words or in the conception of the men of his time.”

MenFoundNamesChristChurchHe ManClaimsInstitutionsConceptionSacramentsHierarchyInfallibility
Book:The kingdom of God: and peace essays
Create image

“War is like a game of chess ... but with this little difference, that in chess you may think over each move as long as you please and are not limited for time, and with this difference too, that a knight is always stronger than a pawn, and two pawns are always stronger than one, while in war a battalion is sometimes stronger than a division and sometimes weaker than a company. The relative strength of bodies of troops can never be known to anyone.... Success never depends, and never will depend, on position, or equipment, or even on numbers, and least of all on position.”

ThinkingMayLittlesLongTwoWarSometimesBodyMovingGamesDifferencesNumbersCompanyKnownPositionDependsPleaseStrongerChessDivisionRelativeTroopsEquipmentKnightsPawns
Author:Leo Tolstoy
Create image

“A Russian should rejoice if Poland, the Baltic Provinces, Finland, Armenia, should be separated, freed from Russia; so with an Englishman in regard to Ireland, India and other possessions; and each should help to do this, because the greater the state, the more wrong and cruel is its patriotism, and the greater is the sum of suffering upon which its power is founded. Therefore, if we really wish to be what we profess to be, we must not only cease our present desire for the growth of the state, but we must desire its decrease, its weakening, and help this forward with all our might.”

IfsShouldStatesHelpingMightDesireSufferingWishGrowthGreaterIndiaRegardPossessionRussiaCeaseRejoiceIrelandEnglishmenProvincesDecreasePolandWeakeningFinlandArmenia
Book:Leo Tolstoy: Letters and Papers
Create image

“The question was a fashionable one, whether a definite line exists between psychological and physiological phenomena in human activity; and if so, where it lies?”

IfsHumansLyingLinesActivityPsychologicalDefiniteFashionableHuman ActivityPhysiological
Book:The Complete Novels of Leo Tolstoy in One Premium Edition (World Classics Series): Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Resurrection, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, The Cossacks, The Death of Ivan Ilyich... (Including Biographies of the Author)
Create image

“In the evolution of knowledge-mistaken and unnecessary beliefs are forced out and supplanted by truer and more necessary knowledge. So too in the evolution of feelings, which takes place by means of art. Lower feelings-less kind and less needed for the good of humanity-are forced out and replaced by kinder feelings which better serve us individually and collectively. This is the purpose of art.”

KindMeanArtFeelingsPurposeHumanityBeliefEvolutionNeededReplacedUnnecessaryMistakenKinderPurpose Of Art
Author:Leo Tolstoy
Create image

“The artist of the future will live the ordinary life of a human being, earning his living by some kind of labour. He will strive to give the fruit of that supreme spiritual force which passes through him to the greatest number of people, because this conveying of the feelings that have been born in him to the greatest number of people is his joy and his reward. The artist of the future will not even understand how it is possible for an artist, whose joy consists in the widest dissemination of his works, to give these works only in exchange for a certain payment.”

PeopleGivingHumansKindHas BeensFeelingsSpiritualJoyArtistCertainForceBornHuman BeingsNumbersOrdinaryFruitRewardsStriveSupremeLabourEarningPaymentOrdinary LifeConveyingDissemination
Author:Leo Tolstoy
Create image

“Nothing prevents our denying life by suicide. well then, kill yourself, and you won't discuss. If life displeases you, kill yourself! You live, and cannot understand the meaning of life - then finish it, and do not fool about in life, saying and writing that you do not understand it. You have come into good company where people are contented and know what they are doing; if you find it dull and repulsive - go away!”

PeopleIfsKnowsWritingWellsCompanyFoolSuicideMeaning Of LifeDullGoing AwayGood CompanyKilling Yourself
Book:A Confession: Easyread Edition
Create image

“Power is the relation of a given person to other persons, in which the more this person expresses opinions, theories and justifications of the collective action the less is his participation in that action.”

PersonsActionGivenOpinionTheoryRelationCollectivesJustificationParticipationCollective Action
Book:Political Leadership: Stories of Power and Politics from Literature and Life
Create image

“True art and true science possess two unmistakable marks: the first, an inward mark, which is this, that the servitor of art and science will fulfil his vocation, not for profit but with self- sacrifice; and the second, an external sign, his productions will be intelligible to all the people whose welfare he has in view.”

PeopleFirstsArtTwoSelfViewsSacrificeMarkProfitProductionsWelfareInwardVocationSelf SacrificeArt And Science
Book:On the Significance of Science and Art
Create image

“It is very difficult to tell the truth.”

DifficultTelling The Truth
Book:WAR AND PEACE Complete Edition – All 15 Books in One Volume (World Classics Series): The Magnum Opus of the Greatest Russian Novelists and Author of Anna Karenina & The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Including the Biography & Memoirs of the Author)
Create image

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

ThinkingWorldInspirationalCharacterMotivationalHappinessChangeInspiringIdentityChangedIntegrityDiversitySpringSelf ImprovementReflectionEmbraceEducationalLife ChangingChanging The WorldHypocrisyMaking A DifferenceThought ProvokingMaking ChangesReflectingMy PastDopeRippleChange YourselfMinimalistBig ChangesInspirational ChangeSmall ChangesTime For A ChangeChange Of HeartMaking A Difference In The WorldTimes Have ChangedChange And GrowthPeople ChangingAccepting ChangeEmbrace ChangeCreating ChangeLife Changing InspirationalI Have ChangedBusiness ChangeChanging AttitudeOne Person Can Make A DifferenceAfraid Of ChangeChange GrowthInevitable ChangeInspiring ChangeProcess Of ChangeSmall DifferencesEducational ChangePeople From The PastTransforming The WorldCreating YourselfWhy ChangeIs It Worth ItSelf ChangeSystems ChangeChanging RealityHelping Everyone
Author:Leo Tolstoy
Create image

“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”

LoveLifePhilosophyLiteratureUnderstandingMarriageLove YouMy HeartAnd LoveEducationalNovelistsUnconditional LoveInspirational LoveRomantic LoveValentineUnconditionalValentine's DayI Love YouGreat LoveOnly LovePower Of LoveFamous LoveHeart LoveThings I LoveRomance LoveWhat Is LoveHappiness And LoveI Love LifeHearts And LoveHappy Valentines DayCute Valentines DayValentine PhrasesWedding LoveInspirational RomanceStrong LoveValentines Day CardsLoved And LostHappiness LoveUnderstanding And LoveDefinition Of LoveShort Valentines DayRomantic LifeShort ValentineSweet Valentines DayUnderstanding LoveEyes Of LoveEyes And LoveArt And LoveAge LoveUnderstanding Everything
Book:War and Peace: With bonus material from Give War and Peace A Chance by Andrew D. Kaufman
Create image