Question by : What are the best quotes by Leo Tolstoy ?
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Answer by Roger
“All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is miserable in its own particular way.” (the beginning of _Anna Karenina_)
“Ivan Ilych’s life had been most ordinary and therefore more terrible.” (from “The Death of Ivan Ilych”)
“But the peasants–how do the peasants die?” (possibly apocryphal, attributed to Tolstoy on his deathbed)
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Irving says
One can insult an honest man or an honest woman, but to tell a thief that he is a thief is merely la constation d'un fait [The establishing of a fact.]
Then I remembered the first lesson God had set me: "Learn what dwells in man." And I understood that in man dwells Love! I was glad that God had already begun to show me what He had promised, and I smiled for the first time.
All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way
Reason has discovered the struggle for existence and the law that I must throttle all those who hinder the satisfaction of my desires. That is the deduction reason makes. But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.
There is one evident, indubitable manifestation of the Divinity, and that is the laws of right which are made known to the world through Revelation.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy
http://www.shmoop.com/anna-karenina/quotes.html
Jo W says
“Knowledge is limitless. Therefore, there is a minuscule difference between those who know a lot and those who know very little.” – Leo Tolstoy
“There is a better way to do it; find it. sign Thomas Edison had hanging in his office A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back. Proverbs Joy can be real only if people look upon their lives as an opportunity to be of service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” – Leo Tolstoy
“If you want to be happy, be.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“Music is the shorthand of emotion.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“He sends a cross, but He also sends the strength to bear it.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“It is not beauty that endears, it's love that makes us see beauty” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“Let us forgive each other – only then will we live in peace” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
Angela says
Anna Karenina is the only Tolstoy book I've read, and there were a lot of great statements in there. As I went through the book I kept thinking, "That's a great quote…I ought to write that down." But I didn't write anything down. Wish I had.
One thing stands out to mme, and I'll just have to paraphrase it: After Vronsky had been with Anna for awhile, he silently observed that her beauty was no longer as fresh and captivating as it had been at the beginning of their affair. An analogy was given of a beautiful rose that was so irresistible that he had to pluck it and have it for himself, but then the plucked rose withered and faded.