Art begins when a man, with a purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs.
Leo TolstoyRead
The Brahmins say that in their books there are many predictions of times in which it will rain. But press those books as strongly as you can, you can not get out of them a drop of water. So you can not get out of all the books that contain the best precepts the smallest good deed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Knowledge alone is insufficient without action; good deeds must follow good teachings.
In this quote, Tolstoy emphasizes the importance of translating knowledge and teachings into action. He criticizes the idea that merely possessing wisdom or knowledge can lead to meaningful outcomes without the application of that knowledge in the form of good deeds. The metaphor of books containing predictions of rain, yet yielding no water, illustrates how empty knowledge can be if not accompanied by practical application in life.
Themes
KnowledgeActionDeedsWisdomTeaching
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about the importance of applying what we learn.
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People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing-refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.
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It's too easy to criticize a man when he's out of favour, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else's mistakes.
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Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions, which let themselves be described in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to man in music, and in that is its power and significance.
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A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.
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