At the moment, anthropologists are interested in ideas about man in different eras. Lev Nikolaevich, the great Russian writer and thinker of the twentieth century, paid considerable attention to the essence of man. Views on ideas about a person are ambiguous.
Some researchers believe that Lev Nikolaevich’s man is characterized by hypertrophied individualism. Others believe that Tolstoy denied the concept of “personality,” arguing for the “drowning of personality” in a person.
Such ambiguity of views on Tolstoy’s ideas about man is due to the lack of a unified concept for the thinker’s study of this issue and its presentation. In this work, we will consider the anthropological ideas of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy based on the relationship between the key categories of the thinker’s idea of man.
The main feature of a person, according to Tolstoy, is continuous self-improvement. The fundamental task for a person is “self-identification”. When forming one’s own “I,” there is a confrontation between the spirit (inner “I”) and the body (external “I”). Tolstoy was convinced that man is a dual being, possessing consciousness and reason. The first is aimed at the “spiritual”, inside a person. It is a person’s awareness of his own imperfection that awakens consciousness.
Consciousness - “look at oneself”, “contemplation of the contemplator”. The mind is aimed at comprehending the laws of the surrounding reality. Tolstoy called the unity of the carnal and spiritual the unity of opposites. By the spiritual principle in a person, Lev Nikolaevich understood the consciousness of one’s own freedom, uniting an individual person with other people and thus overcoming spatial and temporal “limitations”, contributing to a person’s involvement in Everything.
The bodily principle in a person contributes to the isolation of individual existence, which is dependent on the laws of the external world. Lev Nikolaevich took the position that life reveals itself differently for a person who recognizes himself as a “physical” being and for a person who recognizes himself as a “spiritual” being. The existence of a “corporeal” being is a path to destruction, since human flesh is mortal.
The existence of a “spiritual” being transcends time and space. According to Tolstoy, in the process of self-improvement, a person must move from the “physical” to the “spiritual” “I”. The sequence of stages on the path to the “spiritual” “I” is determined as follows: 1) awareness of one’s separation from everything else, i.e. your body, 2) consciousness of what is separate, i.e. your soul, the spiritual basis of life, 3) the consciousness of why this spiritual basis of life is separated, i.e. consciousness of God." Some researchers emphasize that Tolstoy, while affirming such a three-level model, denies the two-level model of self-consciousness. In fact, the third level combines the first two, eliminating the individual principle. Lev Nikolaevich does not identify human essence with the concept of “personality”. The thinker has a negative attitude towards this concept.
Tolstoy believes that personality as an empirical “I” impoverishes a person, narrows his horizons to personal good. And it is the consciousness of the individual that takes a person beyond the perception of reality, carries out the transition of the “I” from the individual to the timeless, universal. The center of development of a spiritual being, according to Tolstoy, is rational consciousness. It separates itself from the “animal personality”, clearly differentiating the universal (true) and the personal (false) in man. Tolstoy’s “impersonalism” is interpreted by researchers as the ultimate “equation of everyone and everything.” It is a fundamental condition for the knowledge of life, its spiritual and moral transformation, since “impersonalism” ensures the unity of criteria for the moral assessment of life. Tolstoy argues that “the confusion of personality, individuality with rational consciousness” leads to the erroneous conclusion that life and benefits for an individual are impossible.
As a result, the mind generates an incorrect analogy that is transferred to life in general. The elimination of such delusion gives the “reasonable consciousness” the opportunity to discover that the equivalent of the true “I” in a person is the “desire for the good of oneself” or the “desire for the good of everything that exists,” which is the source of life for everything that exists, is recognized as the divine principle manifested through Love (as the gospel wisdom says, “God is love”). Thus, Tolstoy came to the conclusion that “the only salvation from the despair of life is the removal of one’s self from oneself” or “the recognition of others as oneself,” freeing the human being from “personal superstition.”
At the same time, direct renunciation of one’s own “I” (self-denial) is a necessary condition for the expansion of spiritual consciousness. Self-denial, according to Tolstoy, is associated with contradiction. On the one hand, what is required is not renunciation of personality, but its subordination to rational consciousness. On the other hand, Tolstoy argues as follows: “a person who renounces his personality is powerful, because his personality hid God in him.” It should be noted that self-denial does not mean the physical destruction of the “animal personality.” This term implies the elimination of the egocentrism of the empirical personality.
Moving from lower to higher consciousness, a person feels more and more free, since freedom is liberation from the deception of the individual. However, one should not assume that such freedom is identical to arbitrariness. Such liberation implies the humility of the human will, its subordination to the will of God, even to the point of merging with it. The hierarchy of degrees of human freedom, according to Tolstoy, is as follows: 1) at the lowest level, a person is submissive only to himself, but not to people and God, 2) at a higher level, he is submissive to people (human laws, subordinating his will to them), but not to God , 3) at the highest - he is submissive to God. “Humility before people is a low quality, because you are not submissive to yourself and to God.
Humility before God is the highest quality, because by submitting to God, you stand above the demands of your own personality and people.” Tolstoy spoke about the inadmissibility of violence as a means of “arranging” the lives of other people, i.e. a way to resolve contradictions between them and the principle of organizing their joint existence. The will of God in this also cannot act as external, i.e. suppressing the freedom of other wills, since God is not a Person. “It cannot be said that serving God is the purpose of life,” argues Tolstoy. - The purpose of a person’s life is and will always be his good. But since God wanted to give good to people, then people, achieving their good, do what God wants from them, fulfill His will.”
Tolstoy came to the definition that “man is God, but not in an absolute way” (Nikolai Kuzansky). Tolstoy removes all restrictions from this identity, directly asserting that man is not a “second” God or a reduced copy of the Divine for individual use, but an embodiment of universal spiritual boundlessness and unity commensurate with the scale of the Whole. Consequently, “We cannot know God as a person,” and in order to discover God within ourselves, i.e. to establish that “He and I are one and the same,” must abolish their “separate Personality, to completely renounce oneself means to become God,” Tolstoy summarizes.
Tolstoy's anthropological reasoning is subject to religious and historical-philosophical influence. The result of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy’s thoughts about man: the highest authenticity of human existence is achieved only through the loss of identity and subjectivity of a separate “I”. Such existence is the sought-after equivalent of immortality. Tolstoy calls it “true life.”
List of used literature:
1. Belyaev D.A., Sinitsyna U.P. L.N. Tolstoy in the context of Russian Nietzscheanism: criticism of the “philosophy of bestiality” and “superhuman aestheticism” // Historical, philosophical, political and legal sciences, cultural studies and art history. Questions of theory and practice. Tambov. 2015. No. 11-2 (61). pp. 46-49.
2. Berdyaev N.A. The Old and New Testaments in the religious consciousness of L. Tolstoy // Berdyaev N. Philosophy of creativity, culture and art. T. 2. M.: Publishing house “Art”; ICHP "LIGA", 1994. pp. 461-482.
3. Berdyaev N.A. Spirits of the Russian Revolution // Literary studies. 1990. No. 2. P. 123-140.
4. Zenkovsky V.V. History of Russian philosophy. T. 1. Part 2. L.: EGO, 1991. P. 195-208.
5. Ilyin V.N. Return of Leo Tolstoy to the Church // Ilyin V.N. Worldview of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. St. Petersburg: RKhGI, 2000. pp. 352-360.
6. Tolstoy L.N. About life // Tolstoy L.N. Selected philosophical works / comp., author. entry Art. N.P. Semykin. M.: Education, 1992. pp. 421-526.
7. Tolstoy L.N. The path of life / Comp., commentary. A.N. Nikolyukina. M.: Higher. school, 1993. 527 p.
8. Tolstoy L.N. Philosophical diary. 1901-1910 / comp., entry. Art. and comment. A.N. Nikolyukina. M.: Izvestia, 2003. 543 p.
9. Tolstoy L.N. Christian teaching // Tolstoy L.N. Selected philosophical works / comp., author. entry Art. N.P. Semykin. M.: Education, 1992. P. 49-111.
10. Repin D.A., Yurkov S.E. The concept of internal experience in the metaphysical thought of Russian personalists // News of Tula State University. Humanities. Vol. 3. Part 1. Tula: Tula State University Publishing House, 2013. P. 40-48. D.A.Belyaev, M.I.Babiy, 2017
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is one of the most famous Russian writers. Participant in the defense of Sevastopol. Educator, publicist, thinker, whose authoritative opinion caused the emergence of a new religious and moral movement - Tolstoyism. Corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, honorary academician in the category of fine literature. During his lifetime, he was recognized as the patriarch of Russian literature, whose work marked a new stage in the development of world realism, becoming a bridge between the traditions of the classic novel of the 19th century and the literature of the 20th century. Tolstoy had a huge influence on the evolution of European humanism. His works have been filmed many times and staged on stages all over the world.
What begins in anger ends in shame.
Salvation does not lie in rituals, sacraments, or in the confession of this or that faith, but in a clear understanding of the meaning of one’s life.
The unspoken word is golden.
Thought is the beginning of everything. And thoughts can be controlled. And therefore, the main thing to improve is to work on thoughts.
In a moment of indecision, act quickly and try to take the first step, even if it’s the wrong one.
Happiness is pleasure without remorse.
Aphorisms are perhaps the best form for presenting philosophical opinions.
I haven't eaten meat for almost a year now and I feel great. To think that meat is necessary is nonsense. This is just the opinion of science, and science is always happy to seize on any absurdity. Half the world does not eat meat - and lives well.
The word is a great thing. Great because with a word you can unite people, with a word you can separate them, with a word you can serve love, but with a word you can serve enmity and hatred. Beware of such a word that divides people.
Strong people are always simple.
We often repeat that a person is judged by his deeds, but sometimes we forget that a word is also an action. A person's speech is a mirror of himself. Everything false and deceitful, vulgar and vulgar, no matter how we try to hide it from others, all emptiness, callousness or rudeness breaks through in speech with the same force and obviousness with which sincerity and nobility, the depth and subtlety of thoughts and feelings are manifested.
The main rule is to come up with as many activities as possible for yourself.
Crazy people are always better than healthy people in achieving their goals. This happens because for them there are no moral barriers, no shame, no justice, or even fear.
The more love a person shows, the more people love him. And the more he is loved, the easier it is for him to love others.
By killing animals for food, a person suppresses the highest spiritual feelings in himself - compassion and pity for other living beings like him - and, stepping over himself, hardens his heart. How can we hope for peace and prosperity on earth if our bodies are living graves in which slaughtered animals are buried?
The only condition on which success depends is patience.
Love is a priceless gift. This is the only thing we can give and yet you still have it.
Happiness comes more willingly into a home where a good mood always reigns.
A person is like a fraction: the denominator is what he thinks about himself, the numerator is what he really is. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
Power does not spoil a person, a person is spoiled by the fear of losing power.
Happiness does not lie in always doing what you want, but in always wanting what you do.
It is not beauty that causes love, but love that makes us see beauty.
Children are more moral, much more insightful than adults, and they, often without showing it or even realizing it, see not only the shortcomings of their parents, but also the worst of all shortcomings - the hypocrisy of their parents, and lose respect for them...
What we say is nothing compared to what we feel.
People learn how to speak, but the main science is how and when to remain silent.
The battle is won by the one who is determined to win it.
A cowardly friend is worse than an enemy, because you fear an enemy, but rely on a friend.
The most common and widespread reason for lying is the desire to deceive not people, but oneself.
Any discussion about love destroys love.
Knowing each other too much or too little equally hinders intimacy.
We are only tormented by the past and spoil our future because we are not occupied with the present. The past was, there is no future, there is only one present.
Do you think war is necessary? Wonderful. Who preaches war - to a special, advanced legion and to storm, to attack, ahead of everyone.
One of the most common temptations that leads to the greatest disasters is the temptation to say: “everyone does it”
The property of love is precisely that it gives benefit to the one who experiences it.
Kindness is for the soul what health is for the body, but often our good qualities harm us more in life than bad ones.
Why is gambling prohibited, but women in provocative outfits are not prohibited? They are a thousand times more dangerous!
Do good in secret and regret it when they find out about it, and you will learn the joy of doing good.
We must always marry in the same way as we die, that is, only when it is impossible otherwise.
The hypocrisy of people who cannot kill animals, but do not refuse to eat them, is great and unforgivable.
Act as if you are alone in this world, and people will never know about your action.
All great changes in the life of one person, as well as of all humanity, begin and are accomplished in thought. In order for a change of feelings and actions to occur, a change of thought must first occur.
Dissatisfaction with oneself is a necessary condition for a rational life. Only this dissatisfaction motivates us to work on ourselves.
The more beautiful a woman is, the smarter she should be. For only with her mind can she resist the harm that beauty brings her.
Speak only about what is clear to you, otherwise remain silent. It’s not shameful or harmful not to know... but it’s shameful and harmful to pretend that you know what you don’t know.
The most striking sayings and quotes from Leo Tolstoy, which will reveal him to you from a new side
Vladimir Nabokov used an interesting technique in his lectures - he closed all the curtains in the room, creating complete darkness. When the phrase “In the firmament of Russian literature, this is Gogol” was heard in the hall, a lamp at the end of the room flashed. “This is Chekhov,” a star lit up on the ceiling. “This is Dostoevsky,” Nabokov switched the switch. “But this is Tolstoy!” - Nabokov opened the curtains, and the room was flooded with bright sunlight.
Leo Tolstoy refused the Nobel Prize, hated money and took the side of the peasants. He was an ardent opponent of government and was the first to renounce copyright, and was excommunicated for rejecting religious authorities.
We have collected 25 of the most striking quotes from Leo Tolstoy:
Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
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.
Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
We are only tormented by the past and spoil our future because we are not occupied with the present. The past was, there is no future, there is only one present.
It always seems that they love us because we are so good. But we don’t realize that they love us because those who love us are good.
It's easier to live without love. But without it there is no point.
One of the most common misconceptions is to consider people good, evil, stupid, smart. Man flows, and he has all the possibilities: he was stupid, he became smart, he was angry, he became kind and vice versa. This is the greatness of man. And you can’t judge a person based on this. You condemned, but he is already different.
I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
The world moves forward thanks to those who suffer.
Strong people are always simple.
A wise man demands everything only from himself, but an insignificant person demands everything from others.
The greatest truths are the simplest.
The point is not to know a lot, but to know the most necessary of all that can be known.
Happiness does not lie in always doing what you want, but in always wanting what you do.
People often pride themselves on the purity of their conscience simply because they have a short memory.
There is no scoundrel who, having searched, would not find scoundrels in some respect worse than himself and who therefore could not find a reason to be proud and pleased with himself.
One of the most amazing misconceptions is that a person’s happiness lies in doing nothing.
Evil is only inside 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 whether he will survive until the evening.
There are no conditions to which a person cannot get used, especially if he sees that everyone around him lives the same way.
Happiness comes more willingly into a home where a good mood always reigns.
Love is when good people feel bad. Spleen
“He realized that she was not only close to him, but that now he did not know where she ended and he began.” L. Tolstoy “Anna Karenina”
I don’t know how to love half or be friends, I’ll either give my whole soul or nothing.
Great people develop love in themselves, and only a small soul cherishes the spirit of hatred.
It happens that the person who can save you drowns. Frederic Beigbeder
What I am to you is what you will be to me. Heinrich Mann
Women only love those they don't know. Mikhail Lermontov
How often in life, when we make mistakes, we lose those we value...
Trying to please others, sometimes we run away from our neighbors...
We exalt those who are not worthy of us, and betray the most faithful...
Those who love us so much, we offend, and we ourselves expect an apology...
Love is the only thing that makes a person stronger, a woman more beautiful, a man kinder, a soul lighter, and life more beautiful! Friedrich Nietzsche
Not a single person in the world is worthy of your tears, and the one who is worthy will never make you cry. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The station saw more sincere kisses than the registry office. And the walls of the hospital heard more sincere prayers than the church.
Whoever wants it will write, whoever needs it will call, whoever is bored will find it.
I love her because there is nothing like her in the world, there is nothing better, there is no beast, no plant, no star, no more beautiful person. Alexander Kuprin
Don’t be shy about your feelings and desires... There will be no other life for them...
Only then will a guy understand how dear a girl is to him, when she ends up with someone else...
There are no ideal people, but there is always one who is perfect for you.
A woman is a Flower. And the man is the Gardener. The gardener cares for and grows the Flower. The flower, in turn, thanks him, giving him its tenderness and beauty. The most caring Gardener has the most beautiful Flower.
If I were offered love or money, I would choose love. After all, thanks to love, inspiration appears to create something new and make money.
If you catch a bird, then do not keep it in a cage, do not make it want to fly away from you, but cannot. And make it so that she could fly away, but did not want to.
Sometimes they leave not to leave, but to return different.
A loved one can never be replaced by anyone.
They could not reach each other, but they were able to touch the soul. Ariel Buteau
It is a mistake to think that love grows from long-term friendship and persistent courtship. Love is the fruit of spiritual intimacy, and if intimacy does not arise in a second, it will not arise in years or generations. Gibran Kahlil Gibran
A woman must be loved in such a way that it never occurs to her that someone else could love her even more...
You dream because you think. You think because you're bored. You miss because you love. And you love because this is your person. A.P.Chekhov
Tenderness, absolute mutual trust, and contact, and truth - this becomes more and more necessary over the years... Let's not throw love around, we don't come across it very often. Iris Murdoch. "Sea, sea."
True love begins where nothing is expected in return. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
When you kiss and close your eyes, you go to heaven
When the power of love surpasses the love of power, there will be peace on Earth.
I loved... I cried... I was waiting for something... I sent... I forgot... And I’m happy.
You need to build a relationship with a person for whom you will always come first.
When Maggie and I got married 60 years ago, we had no money. We had $8 in our bank account. For the first two years we didn't even have a telephone. We rented a tiny apartment in Venice, next to a gas station. My first phone hung there on the wall. I ran out to him, picked up the phone, and people thought they were calling me at home. There wasn't even a telephone, let alone a car. But do you know what we had? Love. Ray Bradbury
There is no need to waste yourself on just anyone. It’s better to accumulate love, care and tenderness in yourself so that at the right time you can give it to the right person. Mother Teresa
Why do I need all these people? If none of them are you anyway. Vera Polozkova
It's so easy to be loved, so hard to love.
Never love someone who treats you like an ordinary person. Oscar Wilde
I shaved every evening so as not to prick her with stubble when kissing her in bed. And then one night - she was already asleep (I was somewhere without her, came back in the morning, typical petty disgust that we allow ourselves, justifying our marital status) - he took it and didn’t shave. I thought, it’s okay, she won’t even notice. And that simply meant that I didn’t love her anymore... Frederic Beigbeder
A woman who is considered cold simply has not yet met a person who can awaken love in her. Veniamin Kaverin The Science of Breaking Up
Only a man is to blame for the way a woman behaves, he either allows her to do so or sets an example with his behavior...
When everything is good, it’s easy to be together: it’s like a dream, just breathe, and that’s all. We need to be together when it’s bad - that’s why people come together. Valentin Rasputin ("Live and Remember")
Love is not a mirror pond into which you can stare forever. It has ebbs and flows. And the wreckage of shipwrecks, and sunken cities, and octopuses, and storms, and boxes of gold, and pearls... But the pearls lie very deep. Erich Maria Remarque "Arc de Triomphe"
Loving is not difficult. It's difficult to find a person who really needs it.
True love is possible only with the Present! Hrishikesh Maharaj
The only thing that matters at the end of our time on earth is how much we loved, what was the quality of our love. Richard Bach
I want the person I love to not be afraid to love me openly. Otherwise it's humiliating. Pushkin
The mind judges what is good and what is bad. Love brings only good things. D.Chopra
If you are looking for true and big love, then first you need to get tired of petty feelings and random romances. (Paulo Coelho)
Some people leave, others come, and only a few remain in the heart forever.
A woman's happiness does not lie in being able to choose among hundreds of men. A woman's happiness is in the ability to allow herself to be with the one you love. Of the thousands and millions of fans - hundreds of beautiful ones, hundreds of rich ones, hundreds of jealous ones, hundreds of desirable ones, and there may not be a single loved one. And the one you love may be banned. The prohibition of time... The prohibition of distance... The prohibition of pride, or weakness... The prohibition of circumstances...
We love, but we pretend that we don't care. We are indifferent, but pretend that we love.
True love does not tolerate strangers. Erich Maria Remarque "Three Comrades".
Love a woman the way you made her. Or make it the way you like.
Love is not chosen, loved ones are not blamed, fate is not repeated, the forgotten are not called!
There is no love without pain. If someone has loved, it means they understand...
A girl's heart is never empty...she's either in love or can't forget.
Love does not live for three years, love does not live for three days. Love lives only as long as two people want it to live.
When love ends, one must suffer... if no one suffers, then love never began... if both suffer, love is still alive...
You love and are loved. It's a pity that these are two different men.
The wind changes the shape of the sand dunes, but the desert remains the same. And our love will remain the same. (Coelho)
They say that from love to hate there is only one step. No, one step from charm to disappointment. And between love and hate there are hundreds of attempts to change everything.
Love is like a river: a man rushes into it immediately, and a woman enters gradually.
Love is the lamp that illuminates the Universe; without the light of love, the earth would turn into a barren desert, and man would turn into a handful of dust.
If I love, then for a long time, if mutually, then forever
If you love, then the age difference is not a difference.
Love is never perfect. I don't want to erase her from my life. I love my pain. She is my friend. Jim Carrey
What a luxury it is to be able to hug your loved one at any time. S. Ahern
Do you even understand what's happening to you? - I'm in love. Kill me. Chuck Palahniuk
We can get rid of illness with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love. There are many people in the world who die of hunger, but there are even more who die because they lack love. Mother Teresa
Shout - anyone will hear.
Whisper - the nearest one will hear.
And only the one who loves will hear what you are silent about.
Some girls are cold in appearance, cruel in nature... Because they once loved seriously, but lost... They believed, but they were betrayed...
Just when they remove the hair from your face, if only you knew how much tenderness, trembling and love there is in this. Much more than in your “I love you”
Most men demand from their wives virtues that they themselves are not worth.
The one who has nothing to say talks the most.
In the matter of cunning, a stupid person deceives smarter ones.
In folk speech, the laws of the birth of language live and always operate.
In a moment of indecision, act quickly and try to take the first step, even if it’s an extra one.
The need for happiness is embedded in a person; therefore it is legal.
To handle the language somehow means to think differently.
One of the most amazing misconceptions is the misconception that human happiness lies in doing nothing.
Beware of thinking that you have virtues that others do not have.
It's only a step from a five-year-old child to me. There is a terrible distance from the newborn to me.
It is a mistake to think that knowledge is a virtue. It is not the quantity, but the quality of knowledge that is important.
The first and undoubted duty of a person is to participate in the struggle with nature for his life and the lives of other people.
Before talking about the benefit of satisfying needs, we must decide which needs constitute the benefit.
A vocation can be recognized and proven only by the sacrifice that a scientist or artist makes for his peace and well-being.
Let people's approval be a consequence of your action, not a goal.
The difference between material and mental poisons is that most material poisons taste disgusting, while mental poisons in the form of... bad books, unfortunately, are often attractive.
The most powerful suggestion of goodness is an example of a good life.
The most outstanding talents are ruined by idleness.
The surest sign of truth is simplicity and clarity. A lie is always complex, elaborate and verbose.
The best kind of person is the one who lives primarily by his own thoughts and other people's feelings, and the worst kind of person is the one who lives by other people's thoughts and his own feelings. From the various combinations of these four fundamentals, the motives of activity are the difference between people.
The strength of an army depends on its spirit.
Strong people are always simple.
The word is the deed.
Conscience is the memory of society, assimilated by an individual.
The battle is won by the one who is determined to win it.
The essence of any faith is that it gives life a meaning that is not destroyed by death.
Happiness is pleasure without remorse.
Happiness does not lie in always doing what you want, but in always wanting what you do.
If only people knew that the goal of humanity is not material progress, that this progress is inevitable growth, and there is one goal - the good of all people...
Only with strong, ideal aspirations can people fall low morally.
Vanity... It must be a characteristic feature and a special disease of our age.
One girl was asked what is the most important person, what is the most important time and what is the most necessary thing? And she answered, thinking that the most important person is the one with whom you are communicating at a given moment, the most important time is the one in which you are living now, and the most necessary thing is to do good to the person with whom you are dealing at every given moment.
He who does nothing always has many helpers.
Church. This whole word is the name of deception, through which some people want to rule over others.
A man must be a slave. The choice for him is only whose: his passions, and therefore people, or his spiritual beginning.
A person can serve to improve social life only to the extent that he fulfills the demands of his conscience in his life.
Man is unthinkable outside of society.
A person is like a fraction, the numerator is what he is, and the denominator is what he thinks about himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
A person who separates himself from other people deprives himself of happiness, because the more he separates himself, the worse his life.
A person who has stopped drinking and smoking acquires that mental clarity and calmness of view, which illuminates for him all the phenomena of life from a new, correct perspective.
The more we love, the larger, fuller and more joyful our life becomes.
The better a person is, the less he fears death.
To believe in goodness, you need to start doing it.
Family selfishness is crueler than personal selfishness. A person who is ashamed to sacrifice the benefits of another for himself alone considers it his duty to take advantage of the misfortune and need of people for the good of the family.
The aesthetic and the ethical are two arms of the same lever: as one side lengthens and becomes lighter, the other becomes shorter and heavier. As soon as a person loses moral meaning, he becomes especially sensitive to the aesthetic.
Language is a tool of thinking.
The power of one person over another destroys, first of all, the ruler.
You can only hate life due to apathy and laziness.
All thoughts that have huge consequences are always simple.
All people of the world have the same rights to enjoy the natural benefits of the world and the same rights to respect.
All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
It always seems that we are loved because we are good. But we don’t realize that they love us because those who love us are good.
Every openly expressed thought, no matter how false, every clearly conveyed fantasy, no matter how absurd, cannot fail to find sympathy in some soul.
The main obstacle to knowing the truth is not a lie, but the semblance of the truth.
The main property in any art is a sense of proportion.
The movement towards the good of humanity is accomplished not by torturers, but by martyrs.
There are two things a person should never be upset about: what he can help and what he cannot help.
In order to perceive other people's thoughts, you must not have your own.
To make it easy to live with every person, think about what connects you, not what separates you.
with him.
The good that you do from your heart, you always do to yourself.
If a savage has stopped believing in his wooden god, this does not mean that there is no God, but only that God is not wooden.
If people bother you, then you have no reason to live. Leaving people is suicide.
We must always marry in the same way as we die, that is, only when it is impossible otherwise.
Women, especially those who have gone through the men's school, know very well that talking about lofty subjects is just talk, and what a man needs is the body and everything that shows him in the most deceptive but attractive light; and this is exactly what is being done.
Knowledge without a moral basis means nothing.
Knowledge is only knowledge when it is acquired through the efforts of one’s thoughts, and not through memory.
Of the passions, the most powerful, evil and persistent is sexual, carnal love, and therefore if passions are destroyed, and the last, strongest of them is carnal love, then the prophecy will be fulfilled: people will unite together, the goal of humanity will be achieved and there will be no reason for it to live.
Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for a certain time, a goal for the year, for the month, for the week, for the day and for the hour and for the minute, sacrificing the lower goals to the higher ones.
Oddly enough, the firmest, most unshakable beliefs are the most superficial. Deep convictions are always mobile.
No matter what you say, your native language will always remain native. When you want to speak to your heart’s content, not a single French word comes to mind, but if you want to show off, then it’s a different matter.
The root of evil deeds is evil thoughts.
Short thoughts are good because they force the serious reader to think for himself.
To love means to live the life of the one you love.
People are not punished for their sins, but are punished by the sins themselves. And this is the heaviest and most certain punishment.
People learn how to speak, but the main science is how and when to remain silent.
People who live only by their feelings are animals.
Wisdom is to know what the work of life is and how to carry it out.
Music is a shorthand for feelings.
We do not like people because they are evil, but we consider them evil because we do not love them.
Real life happens where it is unnoticed.
Our good qualities harm us more in life than bad ones.
Do not believe the words of either your own or those of others, believe only the deeds of both your own and those of others.
The harm comes not so much from the fact that we do not do what we should, but from the fact that we do not refrain from doing what we should not do.
There are no guilty people in the world.
There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.
There are no situations and no matters so insignificant in which wisdom cannot be manifested.
No activity can be lasting unless it has a basis in personal interest.
Never bother someone else with something you can do yourself.
Nothing encourages idleness more than empty talk.
Thank you very much for both the biography and the quotes! It is short, concise, and easily broken down by topic.
a lot, but it seems to me that these are not thick, more modern aphorisms
Loading...
