Quotes By Leo Tolstoy

To sin is a human business, to justify sins is a devilish business.

Which is worse? the wolf who cries before eating the lamb or the wolf who does not.

The kinder and the more thoughtful a person is, the more kindness he can find in other people.

The most important knowledge is that which guides the way you lead your life.

Giving alms is only a virtuous deed when you give money that you yourself worked to get.

It's not so much that he can't fall in love, but he has not the weakness necessary.

Patriotism in its simplest, clearest, and most indubitable meaning is nothing but an instrument for the attainment of the government's ambitious and mercenary aims, and a renunciation of human dignity, common sense, and conscience by the governed, and a slavish submission to those who hold power. That is what is really preached wherever patriotism is championed. Patriotism is slavery.

Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait.

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

Religion and law try to escape from criticism, religion by saying that it is divine and law by showing that it is powerful.

Until they throw the money changers out of the temple of art, it will never be a real temple.

Mysterious language is not a sign of wisdom. The wiser a person is, the simpler the language he uses to express his thoughts.

What a joy it is to do a good deed! And this joy is strongest if no one knows that you have done it.

All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.

Kings are the slaves of history.

Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.

We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.

I sit on a man's back, choking him, and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by any means possible, except getting off his back.

Just as one candle lights another and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts.