Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) was a Russian thinker and novelist Known worldwide mainly for great literary works: Anna Karenina, War and Peace or The Cossacks.
The works of this famous author are possibly among the most acclaimed internationally. Who has not read or heard about War and Peace? Without a doubt, a must-read book that we should all read at least once in our lives. Tolstoy lived a very difficult life: he was in the army, he interacted with anarchists and even spoke in letters with Mahatma Gandhi himself.
This writer could make a complete film about him but perhaps it would take too much time, that’s why we have decided to make a brief selection of the 75 best phrases by Leo Tolstoy so that you can all discover this fantastic thinker of the 20th century.
10. What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.
Something beautiful or beautiful does not necessarily have to be good or honest.
11. All happy families are equal; Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Our personal and family relationships deeply affect our way of being.
12. God is the same everywhere.
The concept of god is something that Tolstoy openly debated.
13. The government is an association of men who exert violence on everyone else.
Indeed, the government can be a tool to control the population, but morally and ethically it should not be like that.
14. Kings are the slaves of history.
History gives us a perhaps quite biased opinion of what a king really was or was not.
15. The best stories don’t come from good versus bad, but from good versus good.
In wars there are often no “good guys” or “bad guys”, there are simply nations facing conflicting interests. One of the 75 best phrases by Leo Tolstoy.
16. Pure and complete pain is as impossible as pure and complete joy.
The situation deprives us, on most occasions, of being totally aware of what we are experiencing.
17. In the name of God, stop for a moment, stop your work, look around you.
We must learn to be more aware of the moment in which we live and how we really want to live it.
18. He looked at her as a man might look at a faded flower he had plucked, in which he found it difficult to trace the beauty that had made him choose and destroy it.
Human beings can change their minds about any matter very easily, whether it concerns third parties, property or real estate.
19. Searching our souls, we often unearth something that should have been there unseen.
Within all of us there are good qualities and bad attitudes, it is up to us which ones we want to foster.
20. Be mean, but at least don’t be a liar!
Lying is something that has always harmed society; an honest “bad” person is better than a “good” liar.
21. What is wrong is still wrong because the majority participates in it.
Even if everyone does it, if it is wrong we should not replicate it.
22. Sometimes I did not know what I feared, what I desired: whether I feared or desired what had been or what would be, and precisely what I desired, I did not know.
Our own ideas drive us or prevent us from achieving our goals.
23. All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made of light and shadow.
Everything in life has positive and negative aspects, we must know what is really good for us.
24. Am I crazy to see what others don’t see, or are those responsible for everything I’m seeing crazy?
Not all society is fully aware of everything that surrounds it, we must value the knowledge we have.
25. Spring is the time for plans and projects.
Spring is a time of natural renewal, a time that men can also take advantage of to reinvent ourselves.
26. What counts for making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with the incompatibility.
It is up to us to be compatible with another person, to know how to understand them and accept them as they are.
27. Everything I know, I know because of love.
Love is a very powerful force, we must appreciate it properly.
28. Because of the self-confidence with which he had spoken, no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid.
Confidence in ourselves allows us to be much more powerful when transmitting our message.
29. Man cannot possess anything as long as he is afraid of death. But to him who does not fear, everything belongs to him.
Not fearing death allows us to live life more fully.
30. Love those who hate you.
Love is the only thing capable of turning an enemy into a friend.
31. He was afraid of profaning the love that filled his soul.
Knowing how to take care of the love we feel for someone depends only on ourselves.
32. Now he felt that not only was he close to her, but he didn’t know where she ended and she began.
When we have a very close relationship with a person, that person becomes part of us.
33. What is worse, the wolf that cries before eating the lamb or the wolf that does not?
The wolf does not feel sorry for the sheep he is going to eat.
34. Music is short for emotion.
Music can transmit many emotions to us, it is not in vain that there is a saying: music tames beasts.
35. Instead of going to Paris to attend lectures, go to the public library, and you won’t leave for twenty years, if you really want to learn.
Libraries can give us the opportunity to learn many things, they are a great source of wisdom.
36. Telling the truth is very difficult, and young people are rarely able to do it.
We must always tell the truth, with this we can lead a much more honest life.
37. Here I am alive, and it’s not my fault, so I have to try to get by as best I can without hurting anyone until death takes over.
It is our duty to live life as best we can, without hurting anyone and being honest with those around us.
38. Historians are like deaf people who keep answering questions that no one has asked them.
Many times we do not value history as much as we should, it can teach us many things on countless different topics.
39. Marriage, as it exists today, is the worst of all lies: The supreme form of selfishness.
The conception of marriage is totally designed by the society in which we live. Is man really a monogamous animal?
40. It is all God’s will: you can die in your sleep, and God can forgive you in battle.
Being able to transmit the entire weight of a decision to the concept of God allows us to live life without regrets.
41. One must be cunning and evil in this world.
Indeed, many times the most evil and cunning one manages to achieve his goal.
42. At best, praise or praise is necessary for the simplest and friendliest relationships, just as grease is necessary to keep the wheels turning.
When we are praised or congratulated we feel better about ourselves, this allows us to have a closer and more affectionate relationship with our loved ones.
43. Something magical has happened to me: like a dream when you feel fearful and scared, and suddenly you wake up knowing that there are no such terrors. I’ve woken up.
Being aware of what we want and what we must do to achieve it, that is something that not all of us have.
44. I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger, and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love.
When we are young we are much more prone to adventure and strong emotions.
45. Whatever our destiny or whatever it may be, we have achieved it and we cannot complain.
The decisions we make have led us to where we are.
46. In the middle of winter, I find the invisible summer within me…
Within us we can harbor the purest emotions, capable of transmitting all the warmth we need even in the middle of winter.
47. There will be today, there will be tomorrow, there will always be, and there was yesterday, and there is a day before…
The planet does not stop rotating, time does not stop no matter how much we want to avoid it.
48. Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult.
Governing is not just legislating, there are many more issues attached to the position.
49. He went down, trying not to look at her intensely, as if she were the sun, however, he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.
Love can make us believe that the person we are with is the most beautiful in the universe, because for us at that moment it truly is.
50. I’m glad you see me as I am. Above all, I wouldn’t want people to think I want to try something. I don’t want to prove anything, I just want to live; not cause harm to anyone but myself. I have that right, right?
Honesty is one of the most valuable qualities in human beings, we must be honest with others and we must expect the same honesty from them.
51. True life is lived when small changes occur.
Small changes can change our lives completely.
52. For me, the whole world is divided into two parts: one is where she is, and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other is where she is not, and there is despondency and darkness.
As we can see in this quote Tolstoy was a romantic, his partner meant a lot to him.
53. Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.
Respect is something that we must all have in our lives, we must respect others if we want to be respected.
54. Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.
Surrounding ourselves with smart people helps us break down our own intellectual barriers.
55. Could it be that I have not lived as one should? She suddenly came into his head. But how can I not, when I’ve done everything as it should be?
Doing things correctly may not fulfill us spiritually, we must take certain risks in our lives to be able to live it fully.
56. Ivan Ilyich’s life had been the simplest and most ordinary, and therefore the most terrible.
A simple life is also usually a dull and emotionless life.
57. To educate the peasantry, three things are needed: schools, schools and schools.
Education is a fundamental right that any society must guarantee.
58. Every lie is a poison; there are no harmless lies. Only the truth is certain. Only the truth gives me comfort: it is the only unbreakable diamond.
Society must promote the truth among its citizens, the truth will allow us to have a completely honest life.
59. To get rid of an enemy, one must love him.
When we love our enemies we can turn them into our loved ones. because love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend.
60. If everyone fought for their own convictions, there would be no war.
Wars are often caused by people who get carried away by third party ideas.
61. As long as there are slaughterhouses there will always be battlefields.
Human beings often seek confrontation among themselves. Will we ever overcome this bad habit?
62. Anything is better than lies and deception!
Lies do not contribute anything positive to society, we must eradicate them and penalize those who promote them.
63. Married life is a boat that carries two people through a stormy sea. If one of the two makes any sudden movement, the boat sinks.
Life as a couple can be very complicated, it is up to us to keep it afloat.
64. There is something in the human spirit that will survive and prevail, there is a bright little light burning in the heart of man that will not go out no matter how dark the world becomes.
Human beings are fully capable of carrying out very positive works, for ourselves and for all living beings, we must ensure that society encourages this way of acting.
65. I am always with myself, and I am my own tormentor.
Our inner self is in charge of boycotting us throughout our lives, we must leave our doubts aside and do what really pleases us.
66. The Kingdom of God is within you.
The greatest source of wisdom that human beings possess, capable of changing the world around us, is within ourselves.
67. Human science fragments everything to understand it, kills everything to examine it.
Science needs certain sacrifices to be able to understand what it studies; without a prior dissection we cannot know how the biology of an animal works, for example.
68. Each heart has its own skeletons.
We all go through complicated relationships that, whether we like it or not, mark us forever.
69. How can one be well… when one suffers morally?
Emotional pain is possibly the greatest pain a person can feel.
70. Everything smart is so boring…
Sometimes the stupidest actions are the funniest, we should all give ourselves a moment of personal relaxation.
71. A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is, and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
As people we must know how to appreciate ourselves and give ourselves the value that we really should have in society.
72. We are asleep until we fall in love!
Love is a circumstance that we all go through and it changes our lives.
73. If there were no suffering, man would not know his limits, he would not know himself.
With suffering we learn where the limits of ourselves are, where we want to go and where we don’t want to go.
74. I am like a hungry man who has been given food. Maybe he’s cold, and his clothes are torn, and he’s embarrassed, but he’s not unhappy.
There are recognitions that do not deserve the work we have done to reach them, we must know what we want to do and what we deserve for it.
75. All we can know is that we know nothing. And that is the summit of human wisdom.
In order to learn we must first recognize our ignorance, if we know everything, we have nothing to learn.
