Quotes by Leo Tolstoy
11 quotes by Leo Tolstoy (died 1910), taken from 5 works. Each is given word for word, with its work, its passage and its source.
Works quoted: War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Childhood, Three Questions and Resurrection.
War and Peace
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“But believe me, my dear boy, there is nothing stronger than those two: patience and time, they will do it all.”
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“And there is no greatness where simplicity, goodness, and truth are absent.”
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“Pierre was right when he said one must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy, and now I do believe in it. Let the dead bury their dead, but while one has life one must live and be happy!”
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“How was it I did not see that lofty sky before? And how happy I am to have found it at last!”
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“"Patience and time are my warriors, my champions," thought Kutúzov. He knew that an apple should not be plucked while it is green. It will fall of itself when ripe”
Anna Karenina
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“All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”
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“My life now, my whole life apart from anything that can happen to me, every minute of it is no more meaningless, as it was before, but it has the positive meaning of goodness, which I have the power to put into it.”
Childhood
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“Happy, happy, never-returning time of childhood! How can we help loving and dwelling upon its recollections? They cheer and elevate the soul, and become to one a source of higher joys.”
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“How beautiful Mamma’s face was when she smiled! It made her so infinitely more charming, and everything around her seemed to grow brighter!”
Three Questions
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“Remember then: there is only one time that is important, Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.”
Resurrection
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“It all lies in the fact that men think there are circumstances in which one may deal with human beings without love; and there are no such circumstances.”