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
If he be really and seriously seeking to live a good life, the first thing from which he will abstain will always be the use of animal food, because ...its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to the moral feeling - killing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that living a good life requires abstaining from actions that harm others, particularly the killing of animals for food.
In this quote, Leo Tolstoy presents a moral perspective on living a good life, arguing that a serious quest for goodness necessitates a rejection of animal food. He connects dietary choices to morality, suggesting that consuming meat involves causing harm and suffering, which is inherently wrong and inconsistent with a moral lifestyle. This stance reflects a broader ethical implication that challenges societal norms surrounding food and urges individuals to reconsider their actions in light of moral principles.
Themes
MoralityAnimal RightsGood LifeEthical LivingCompassion
In practice
Example use cases
During a talk on ethical eating, this quote can highlight the moral implications of our dietary choices.
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.
Leo TolstoyRead
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.
Leo TolstoyRead
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