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Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy Quotes

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Famous Leo Tolstoy Quotes

“At the approach of danger two voices speak with equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it and the other, even more reasonable, says that it is too painful and harassing to think of the danger... better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has come, and to think of what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally yields to the first voice; in society to the second.”

ThinkingMenFirstsHeartMeanTwoTurnsSpeakForceVoiceSubjectsDangerHe ManSolitudeEqualApproachPainfulPleasantReasonableYieldAvoiding
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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“There can be only one permanent revolution - a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”

ThinkingKnowsMenWorldFeelsHumanityMoralKnow HowRevolutionEvery ManPermanentOur WorldNobody KnowsRegeneration
Book:Pamphlets. Translated from the Russian
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“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order, and in the assertion that, without authority, there could not be worse violence than that of authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that Anarchy can be instituted by a revolution. "To establish Anarchy." "Anarchy will be instituted." But it will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require protection from governmental power, and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power.”

PeopleThinkingOrderViolenceConditionsRevolutionAuthorityProtectionAshamedAnarchyMistakenAnarchistAssertionNegationMental Power
Book:Social Evils and Their Remedy
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“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
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“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
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“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking.”

ThinkingMindStatesUseReligionBeliefFearCommonHonestyWillingEssentialsPrejudiceIndependentPrivilegeCustomsState Of MindChanging Your LifeClashWisestFreethinkerIndependent ThoughtIndependent Thinking
Book:The Works of Leo Tolstoy ...: On life and essays on religion, tr. by Aylmer Maude
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“I think... 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.”

IfsThinkingLoveMindHeartKindSoulDiversityIndividualityChanging Your LifeKinds Of LoveInspirational Diversity
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
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“Indeed, ask every man separately whether he thinks it laudable and worthy of a man of this age to hold a position from which he receives a salary disproportionate to his work; to take from the people--often in poverty--taxes to be spent on constructing cannon, torpedoes, and other instruments of butchery, so as to make war on people with whom we wish to be at peace, and who feel the same wish in regard to us; or to receive a salary for devoting one's whole life to constructing these instruments of butchery, or to preparing oneself and others for the work of murder.”

PeopleThinkingMenFeelsWarWholeAgeAsksWishPovertyPositionTaxesMurderRegardInstrumentsOneselfWorthyWhole LifeEvery ManPreparingSalaryCannonsButcheryTorpedoes
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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“Don’t you know that you are all my life to me? ...But peace I do not know, and can’t give to you. My whole being, my love...yes! I cannot think about you and about myself separately. You and I are one to me. And I do not see before us the possibility of peace either for me or for you. I see the possibility of despair, misfortune...or of happiness-what happiness!...Is it impossible?" Vronksy”

ThinkingKnowsGivingWholeImpossiblePossibilityDespairMisfortunes
Book:ANNA KARENINA – Two Unabridged Translations in One Premium Edition (World Classics Series): The Greatest Romantic Tragedy of All Times from the Renowned Author of War and Peace & The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Including Biographies of the Author)
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“…the majority of men do not think in order to know the truth, but in order to assure themselves that the life which they lead, and which is agreeable and habitual to them, is the one which coincides with the truth.”

ThinkingKnowsMenOrderMajorityHabitual
Book:THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU (One of the Most Influential Books on Nonviolent Resistance, Christianity & Inner Fate): What It Means To Be A True Christian At Heart – Crucial Book for Understanding Tolstoyan, Nonviolent Resistance and Christian Anarchist Movements
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“The whole trouble lies in that people think that there are conditions excluding the necessity of love in their intercourse with 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.”

PeopleThinkingMenMayWholeCareLyingDealsTroubleConditionsWoodsHandleTreatedIronBeesBricksIntercourseWithout Love
Book:The Resurrection: Tolstoy's Collections
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“He felt all the torment of his and her position, all the difficulties they were surrounded by in consequence of their station in life, which exposed them to the eyes of the whole world, obliged them to hide their love, to lie and deceive, and again to lie and deceive, to scheme and constantly think about others while the passion that bound them was so strong that they both forgot everything but their love.”

ThinkingWorldWholeEyeLyingPassionStrongFeltPositionConsequenceDifficultyBoundsWhole WorldStationsExposedDeceivingSchemesTormentObliged
Book:The Works of Leo Tolstoy ...: Anna Karénina, tr. by Louise and Aylmer Maude
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“The best generals I have known were... stupid or absent-minded men. Not only does a good army commander not need any special qualities, on the contrary he needs the absence of the highest and best human attributes - love, poetry, tenderness, and philosophic inquiring doubt. He should be limited, firmly convinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he will not have sufficient patience), and only then will he be a brave leader. God forbid that he should be humane, should love, or pity, or think of what is just and unjust.”

ThinkingMenLoveNeedsShouldHumansDoeImportantQualityKnownLeaderDoubtSpecialStupidHighestArmyBraveConvincedAbsenceContraryPitySufficientAttributesTendernessUnjustHumaneAbsentCommandersLove PoetryPhilosophicInquiringAbsent Minded
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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“Though it is possible to utter words only with the intention to fulfill the will of God, it is very difficult not to think about the impression which they will produce on men and not to form them accordingly. But deeds you can do quite unknown to men, only for God. And such deeds are the greatest joy that a man can experience.”

ThinkingMenGodFormJoyDifficultCan DoProduceIntentionDeedsImpressionGods WillDeeds And Words
Book:Tolstoy's Letters: 1880-1910
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“The chief cause of unhappiness in married life is that people think that marriage is sex attraction, which takes the form of promises and hopes and happiness - a view supported by public opinion and by literature. But marriage cannot cause happiness. Instead, it is always torture, which man has to pay for satisfying his sex urge.”

PeopleThinkingMenFormLife IsLiteratureSexCausesViewsPayMarriageOpinionPromiseMarriedAttractionChiefsTortureUrgesUnhappinessSatisfyingPublic OpinionMarried Life
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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