He was the first to give up copyright, was an opponent of the state system, and for denying religious authority he was excommunicated. He turned down the Nobel Prize, hated money, and sided with the peasants. Nobody knew him like that. His name is Leo Tolstoy.
- The strength of the government rests on the ignorance of the people, and it knows this and therefore will always fight against enlightenment. It's time for us to understand this.
- Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
- Everything comes to the one who knows how to wait.
- All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Strong people are always simple.
- Let everyone sweep in front of his door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
- It always seems that we are loved for being so good. And we don't realize that they love us because those who love us are good.
- It's easier to live without love. But there is no point without it.
- I don't have everything that I love. But I love everything I have.
- The world is moving forward thanks to those who suffer.
- The greatest truths are the simplest.
- The point is not to know much, but to know the most necessary from all that can be known.
- People often pride themselves on the purity of their consciences just because they have a short memory.
- There is no scoundrel who, after searching, would not find scoundrels in any way worse than himself, and who therefore could not find a reason to be proud and be pleased with himself.
- Evil is only within us, that is, where it can be taken out.
- A person should always be happy; if happiness ends, look where you went wrong.
- I am sure that the meaning of life for each of us is simply to grow in love.
- Everyone is making plans, and no one knows if he will live until the evening.
- There are no such conditions to which a person could not get used to, especially if he sees that everyone around him lives the same way.
- One of the most surprising misconceptions is that human happiness lies in doing nothing.
PS At his lectures, Vladimir Nabokov used the following technique. He closed all the curtains in the room, achieving complete darkness. “In the sky of Russian literature, this is Gogol,” and a lamp flashed at the end of the hall. “This is Chekhov,” another star lit up on the ceiling. "This is Dostoevsky," Nabokov flicked the switch. "And this is Tolstoy!" - the lecturer threw open the drapery of the window, and the room was flooded with blinding sunlight.