“ Man can be master of nothing while he fears death, but he who does not fear it possesses all. ”
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (1869). copy citation
Author | Leo Tolstoy |
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Source | War and Peace |
Topic | death fear |
Date | 1869 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2600/2600-h/2600-h.htm |
Context
““To endure war is the most difficult subordination of man’s freedom to the law of God,” the voice had said. “Simplicity is submission to the will of God; you cannot escape from Him. And they are simple. They do not talk, but act. The spoken word is silver but the unspoken is golden. Man can be master of nothing while he fears death, but he who does not fear it possesses all. If there were no suffering, man would not know his limitations, would not know himself. The hardest thing (Pierre went on thinking, or hearing, in his dream) is to be able in your soul to unite the meaning of all.”
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