Leo Tolstoy Quotes
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There is a scale of virtues, and it is necessary, if one would mount the higher steps, to begin with the lowest; and the first virtue a man must acquire if he wishes to acquire the others, is that which the ancients called ἐγκράτεια or σωφροσύνη - i.e., self-control or moderation.
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When a person is haughty, he distances himself from other people and thereby deprives himself of one of life’s biggest pleasures-open, joyful communication with everyone.
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Vengeance is mine; I will repay.
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The only thing that we know is that we know nothing - and that is the highest flight of human wisdom.
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Wealth brings a heavy purse; poverty, a light spirit.
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In spite the mountains of books written about art, no precise definition of art has been constructed. And the reason for this is that the conception of art has been based on the conception of beauty.
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In the spiritual realm nothing is indifferent: what is not useful is harmful.
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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.
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A king is history's slave.
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He knew she was there by the joy and fear that overwhelmed his heart.
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It is often better for a person to recognize a sin than to do a good deed. Recognizing a sin makes a person humble. Doing a good deed often can feed a person’s pride.
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All state obligations are against the conscience of a Christian: the oath of allegiance, taxes, law proceedings and military service.
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Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible.
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Science has adapted itself entirely to the wealthy classes and accordingly has set itself to heal those who can afford everything, and it prescribes the same methods for those who have nothing to spare.
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One is ashamed to say how little is needed for all men to be delivered from those calamities which now oppress them; it is only needful not to lie.
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In life, in true life, there can be nothing better than what is. Wanting something different than what is, is blasphemy.
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Quite often a man goes on for years imagining that the religious teaching that had been imparted to him since childhood is still intact, while all the time there is not a trace of it left in him.
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The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens … Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere.
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As soon as men live entirely in accord with the law of love natural to their hearts and now revealed to them, which excludes all resistance by violence, and therefore hold aloof from all participation in violence - as soon as this happens, not only will hundreds be unable to enslave millions, but not even millions will be able to enslave a single individual.
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Error is the force that welds men together; truth is communicated to men only by deeds of truth.
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The only absolute knowledge attainable by man is that life is meaningless.
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An arrogant person considers himself perfect. This is the chief harm of arrogance. It interferes with a person’s main task in life-becoming a better person.
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Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here.
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All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do.