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
How interesting it would be to write the story of the experiences in this life of a man who killed himself in his previous life; how he stumbles against the very demands which had offered themselves before, until he arrives at the realization that he must fulfill those demands. The deeds of the preceding life give direction to the present life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the idea of how past actions shape present circumstances and choices.
In this profound reflection, Tolstoy discusses the intricate connection between past lives and present experiences, suggesting that unresolved issues and unmet demands from a previous existence influence the choices and struggles one faces in the current life. The man who took his own life in a former life encounters these challenges again, indicating that our past actions are influential in directing our present paths, reinforcing the significance of understanding and addressing our past to find fulfillment in the present.
Themes
LifePastChoicesExperienceFulfillment
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about how our past experiences shape our current decisions, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of self-reflection.
More from Leo Tolstoy
All quotes →Pierre looked into the sky, into the depths of the retreating, twinkling stars. "And all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me!" thought Pierre. "And all this they've caught and put in a shed and boarded it up!
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People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing-refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.
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It's too easy to criticize a man when he's out of favour, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else's mistakes.
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Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions, which let themselves be described in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to man in music, and in that is its power and significance.
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A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.
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