Inspirational Quotes

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy, born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia, is one of the most celebrated novelists in history. His works, including “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” are renowned for their deep exploration of human nature and society. Tolstoy’s experiences as a soldier and his subsequent spiritual awakening led him to question the meaning of life, morality, and social structures. Tolstoy’s literary career is marked by a transition from exploring personal and social dilemmas to addressing broader spiritual and existential questions. His later years were characterized by a deep spiritual transformation, during which he renounced his wealth and embraced a life of asceticism, pacifism, and Christian anarchism. This shift in his beliefs influenced not only his writings but also global movements for nonviolent resistance, notably inspiring leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.. Tolstoy passed away on November 20, 1910, but his literary and philosophical legacy continues to inspire people worldwide.

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  • “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you want to be happy, be.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The strongest of all warriors are these two—Time and Patience.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The only absolute knowledge attainable by man is that life is meaningless.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “We lost because we told ourselves we lost.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Joy can only be real if it is based on truth.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “There is something in the human spirit that will survive and prevail; there is a tiny and brilliant light burning in the heart of man that will not go out no matter how dark the world becomes.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The best stories don’t come from ‘good vs. bad’ but ‘good vs. good.'”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will.’ Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Boredom: the desire for desires.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “It’s much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “To say that you can love one person all your life is like saying that one candle will continue burning as long as you live.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The greatest virtue is to love one another.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The key to success in life is using the good thoughts of wise people.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “True happiness lies in the lives of others.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you make it a habit not to blame others, you will feel the growth of the ability to love in your soul, and you will see that you will become more and more able to love others.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Without knowing what I am and why I am here, life is impossible.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The greatest art is to sit, wait, and let it come.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Let us forgive each other – only then will we live in peace.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you want to be happy, be.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Without knowing what I am and why I am here, life is impossible.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “When we do not know what we are living for, we cannot live properly.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “To live in peace, one must be blind, deaf, and dumb.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The most difficult thing but an essential one is to love life, to love it even while one suffers because life is all, life is God, and to love life means to love God.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Boredom: the desire for desires.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “There is something in the human spirit that will survive and prevail; there is a tiny and brilliant light burning in the heart of man that will not go out no matter how dark the world becomes.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Joy can only be real if it is based on truth.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The greatest art is to sit, wait, and let it come.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will.’ Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “It’s much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “To say that you can love one person all your life is like saying that one candle will continue burning as long as you live.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you want to be happy, be.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “We lost because we told ourselves we lost.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “If you make it a habit not to blame others, you will feel the growth of the ability to love in your soul, and you will see that you will become more and more able to love others.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.”Leo Tolstoy
  • “Let us forgive each other – only then will we live in peace.”Leo Tolstoy
  • This completes the list of over 100 quotations from Leo Tolstoy on the various themes of “Inspiration,” “Motivation,” “Health,” “Wealth,” “Success,” “Life,” “Beauty,” “Love,” “Happiness,” and more.

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