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
It seems as though mankind has forgotten the laws of its divine Saviour, Who preached love and forgiveness of injuries—and that men attribute the greatest merit to skill in killing one another.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on humanity’s neglect of love and forgiveness in favor of violence.
In this quote, Leo Tolstoy critiques the moral decline of humanity, suggesting that people have abandoned the teachings of compassion and forgiveness that should guide their actions. Instead, he points out the disturbing tendency to glorify violence and the ability to harm others, highlighting a profound disconnect between human behavior and the moral principles that should govern it.
Themes
LoveForgivenessViolenceHumankindMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on peaceful conflict resolution, this quote can highlight the importance of forgiveness.
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.
Leo TolstoyRead
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