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
In order to get the power and retain it, it is necessary to love power; but love of power is not connected with goodness, but with qualities which are the opposite of goodness, such as pride, cunning, cruelty.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The pursuit and retention of power often require a love for it, which can lead to negative traits rather than moral goodness.
Leo Tolstoy's quote reflects on the nature of power and its relationship with morality. It suggests that to gain and maintain power, one must have a strong affinity for power itself. However, this love for power is fundamentally linked to negative human qualities, including pride, cunningness, and cruelty, indicating a moral conflict that exists in the quest for power. The quote warns about the ethical implications of power dynamics and the potential for corruption that comes with an obsession for power.
Themes
PowerMoralityGoodnessTraitsCorruption
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on political leadership, one could reference this quote to highlight the moral complexities of pursuing power.
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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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