Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.
Leo Tolstoy Quotes
Accept everything bad that happens to you the way a sick person takes medicine. Medicines are bitter & distasteful, but a sick person takes it happily & is glad it exists. In the same way, be glad when trials & afflictions are sent to you, knowing that they’re of use to your soul
—Leo Tolstoy
After a long conversation, try to remember everything that was said and you’ll be astonished by how empty, unnecessary, and frequently bad it all was.
—Leo Tolstoy
One day people will stop fighting, waging war, executing people, and will begin to love one another. This day cannot be evaded, for within every person’s soul lies love, not hatred, toward others. Let’s do all we can to reach this day more quickly.
—Leo Tolstoy
Effort is needed for every act of self-restraint, but the restraint of your tongue requires the most effort. It’s also the most necessary.
—Leo Tolstoy
There is no more visible sign of a person’s success on the path of goodness than when he restrains his anger and refuses to repay an unkind word with an unkind word, or refuses to strike back at a person who’s offended him.
—Leo Tolstoy
People say: Why love those we don’t like? Because there’s joy in it. Try it and see if it’s true or not.
—Leo Tolstoy
Work as if you’re going to live forever, and treat people as if you’re going to die at any second.
—Leo Tolstoy
Never believe that others can show you the way to a good life and that you can’t find it yourself. Pay attention to the inner voice of your reason alone and not to the orders and suggestions of others.
—Leo Tolstoy
The more compassion there is in a person the better and happier his life is.
—Leo Tolstoy
There’s no reason to pity a person if he dies or loses his money, if he has no home or property, because none of those things belong to man. But there’s reason for pity if a person loses his one true possession, his highest blessing: his ability to love.
—Leo Tolstoy
Don’t think that your good attitude toward others is your gift to them. It’s a gift you give to yourself.
—Leo Tolstoy
A person is never closer to God than when he’s in trouble.
—Leo Tolstoy
If I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the people of our century, I would simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, and look around you.
—Leo Tolstoy
An army is nothing more than a collection of disciplined murderers.
—Leo Tolstoy
When people marvel at Shakespeare or Beethoven, they’re really marveling at their own thoughts and dreams, which the artist has evoked.
—Leo Tolstoy
A good and wise person can be recognized by the fact that he considers others better and wiser than he is.
—Leo Tolstoy
If in rage you wish to harm someone, whether you succeed or not, as a result of your rage you’re certainly committing evil against yourself.
—Leo Tolstoy
Love is only love when it’s a sacrifice.
—Leo Tolstoy
If this little crumb of life is all you have, then make sure you do all you can with it. Sa’id ibn Khaled
—Leo Tolstoy
There’s no salvation for a person who’s certain of his righteousness. If someone points out his sins he only gets angry and commits a new one.
—Leo Tolstoy
An argument never persuades anyone; it divides and embitters people. An argument influences a person’s opinion like a hammer influences a nail.
—Leo Tolstoy
Remember that you’re not standing still, but passing through, that you’re not in a house but on a train that’s taking you toward death. Remember that your body is just passing through and lives for a short time and that only the spirit within you truly lives.
—Leo Tolstoy
To forgive doesn’t mean to say, ‘I forgive you,’ but to tear from your heart every reproach and shred of anger against the person who hurt you.
—Leo Tolstoy
A truthful word is more powerful than popes, bishops, kings, and all the rich men on earth.
—Leo Tolstoy
There is a blessing in serious illness. The blessing is that when the body weakens, you feel your soul more fully.
—Leo Tolstoy
A cowardly friend is worse than an enemy, since you take precautions against your enemy, but you rely upon your friend.
—Leo Tolstoy
Suffering is an essential condition for both physical and spiritual improvement.
—Leo Tolstoy
One of the best and purest forms of joy is rest after labor.
—Leo Tolstoy
To sin is a human affair, but to justify sins is a demonic affair.
—Leo Tolstoy
Prefer the company of a stranger who loves the truth to the company of a friend who doesn’t.
—Leo Tolstoy