Art begins when a man, with a purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs.
Leo TolstoyRead
What an immense mass of evil must result...from allowing men to assume the right of anticipating what may happen.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Tolstoy critiques the tendency of people to predict the future and the potential harm it can cause.
In this quote, Leo Tolstoy expresses his concern about the dangers of humans presuming to predict future events. He suggests that this presumption can lead to significant negativity and unintended consequences, highlighting the complexities and uncertainties of life that cannot be anticipated or controlled.
Themes
PredictionFutureConsequencesUncertaintyHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the unpredictability of life events, you can use this quote to emphasize the dangers of trying to predict outcomes.
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