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Quote by Leo Tolstoy

“Can it be that I have overlooked something, that there is something which I have failed to understand? Is it not possible that this state of despair is common to everyone?”

Quote by Leo Tolstoy

Author

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer and thinker, a prominent representative of 19th-century Russian literature. His works deeply revealed social contradictions and human nature, and had a profound impact on the world. more

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“I have discovered nothing new; I have only perceived what I already knew.”

Discovery Nothing New

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed through words, so to convey this so that others may experience the same feeling - this is the activity of art.”

May Mean Art Feelings Form Sound Lines Movement Color Expression Activity Oneself Evoke

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“Woman, you see, is an object of such a kind that study it as much as you will, it is always quite new.”

Kind Study Objects

Book:ANNA KARENINA

Source: ANNA KARENINA

“The activity of art is... as important as the activity of language itself, and as universal.”

Art Important Language Activity Art Is Universal Importance

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“When ignorance does not know something, it says that what it does not know is stupid.”

Knows Doe Stupid Ignorance

Book:A Confession: Easyread Edition

Source: A Confession: Easyread Edition

“Real art, like the wife of an affectionate husband, needs no ornaments. But counterfeit art, like a prostitute, must always be decked out. The cause of production of real art is the artist's inner need to express a feeling that has accumulated...The cause of counterfeit art, as of prostitution, is gain. The consequence of true art is the introduction of a new feeling into the intercourse of life... The consequences of counterfeit art are the perversion of man, pleasure which never satisfies, and the weakening of man's spiritual strength.”

“People understand the meaning of eating lies in the nourishment of the body only when they cease to consider that the object of that activity is pleasure. ...People understand the meaning of art only when they cease to consider that the aim of that activity is beauty, i.e., pleasure.”

People Art Body Lying Pleasure Objects Activity Eating Aim Cease Nourishment Meaning Of Art

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“Progress consists only in the greater clarification of answers to the basic questions of life.”

Answers Greater Progress Clarification

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“Religions are the exponents of the highest comprehension of life... within a given age in a given society... a basis for evaluating human sentiments. If feelings bring people nearer to the religion's ideal... they are good; if these estrange them from it, and oppose it, they are bad.”

People Ifs Humans Feelings Age Given Highest Ideals Bases Sentiments Comprehension Exponents

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“You see, if you take pains and learn in order to get a reward, the work will seem hard; but when you work... if you love your work, you will find your reward in that.”

Ifs Hard Seems Pain Order Love You Rewards Love Your Work

Book:ANNA KARENINA

Source: ANNA KARENINA