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
Understand then all of you, especially the young, that to want to impose an imaginary state of government on others by violence is not only a vulgar superstition, but even a criminal work. Understand that this work, far from assuring the well-being of humanity is only a lie, a more or less unconscious hypocrisy, camouflaging the lowest passions we posses.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Imposing government through violence is hypocritical and counterproductive.
In this quote, Leo Tolstoy emphasizes that attempting to enforce a certain form of government through violent means is not only a misguided belief but also an immoral action that ultimately undermines the well-being of society. He argues that such acts are often driven by base human emotions instead of genuine concern for humanity's welfare, revealing a deeper hypocrisy in the motives of those who engage in such violence.
Themes
ViolenceGovernmentHypocrisyHumanityWell-Being
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on the ethics of governance, one might quote Tolstoy to highlight the dangers of using violence to enforce political ideals.
More from Leo Tolstoy
All quotes →Pierre looked into the sky, into the depths of the retreating, twinkling stars. "And all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me!" thought Pierre. "And all this they've caught and put in a shed and boarded it up!
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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.
Leo TolstoyRead
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