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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The value of a person is determined by their self-perception compared to their true self.
This quote by Leo Tolstoy illustrates the idea that a person's self-worth and potential can be diminished by their negative self-image. Just as a fraction's value decreases when its denominator increases, a person's goodness or capabilities may become less visible when they think poorly of themselves.
Themes
Self-ImageSelf-WorthPerceptionValuePotentialNarrative
In practice
Example use cases
In a self-help seminar discussing the importance of self-esteem.
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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 β such is my idea of happiness.
Leo TolstoyRead
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