Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

“ I understand the words that ‘he who divorces his wife,’ that is, the woman to whom he was first united, ‘forces her to commit adultery,’ and brings new evil into the world. My belief in this has changed my former estimate of what is good and noble or bad and base in life. The things that I had formerly prized – a refined, elegant life and the passionate and poetic love extolled by all poets and artists – has become wicked and hideous in my eyes. On the contrary, a hard working, poor, simple life, which masters human passions, alone seems desirable. ”

“ If Christians live in a non-Christian society that defends itself by war, and if a Christian is called upon to take part in war, that is the moment for him to testify the truth to those who do not know it. A Christian knows the truth only in order to testify of it before those who do not know it. The only way to testify of it for him is by his deeds. And his deeds are the renunciation of war and doing good to people without making a distinction between so-called enemies and his own. ”

“ When I did not know the truth I did not know true happiness. Thinking that evil was happiness, I fell into evil, and doubted if my long for happiness was legitimate. Now, I have understood and believed that the happiness for which I long is the will of the Father, and is the legitimate essence of my life. Christ says to me, ‘Live for your happiness and for that of others, but do not believe in the snares – temptations (σκανδαλος) – that attract you by a semblance of happiness, while they, in reality, deprive you of it and entice you into evil. Your happiness is in your unity with all men. ”

“ The violence, imprisonment, perhaps even death, to which the Christian will then be exposed in consequence of his refusal, will enable him to testify to the truth, not in words, but in deeds. Every act of violence, pillage, execution, and war is the result, not of the irrational force of nature, but of people who are ignorant and deprived of the knowledge of the truth. And therefore, the greater the evil these people do to the Christian, the further they are from the truth, the more desperate they are, and the more necessary the knowledge of the truth is for them. ”

“ I now understand the meaning of the words, ‘man is born, not to be ministered to, but to minister to others.’ I now understand the saying, ‘the laborer is worthy of his hire.’ I now believe that my happiness, and that of all men, will only be attained when each labors for others and not for himself, when none refuses to labor for him who is in need of help. ”

“ The power that chains them is ‘falsehood,’ ‘deception.’ The power that frees each link of the human chain is ‘truth.’ The truth is transmitted to people only by the deeds of the truth.
Only the deeds of the truth, which bring the light to each man’s heart, can destroy the chain of deception and remove one man after another out of the compact mass fettered by deception. ”

“ If, therefore, I now inadvertently give myself up to anger and wound another’s feelings, I dare not, after a moment’s serious reflection, yield to the temptation that deprives me of true happiness, union, and love, any more than a man can set a snare for himself in which he was once caught. ”

“ I know, besides, wherein the temptation lay, which enticed me into this evil, and I dare not yield to it any more. I know that the temptation lies in our sanctioning deception. Men swear to submit to the commands of other men, whereas man must submit to God alone. The most awful evils in the world, by the consequences they entail, such as war, imprisonment, executions, and torture, only exist through this snare, by which all responsibility is taken off those who do evil. ”

“ Christ has shown me that the second temptation that destroys my happiness is ‘lasciviousness,’ ‘lust’ for a woman other than I bound myself to. Knowing this, I believe this is true, and therefore I cannot any longer acknowledge sexual lust to be natural and fine quality of a person, cannot justify it by my affection for beauty, by my ardor, or by shortcomings of my wife. As soon as I feel that I am giving way to my passions, I know myself to be in an unhealthy, unnatural state of mind, and try by all possible means to escape this evil. ”

“ And, knowing that sexual lust is an evil for me, I know, too, the temptation that used to lead me into it, and I can no longer yield to it. I know now that the chief cause of this temptation lies not in powerlessness of people to resist sexual lust but in the separation of men and women from those to whom they were once united. I know now that the forsaking of those to whom men and women have been once united is the ‘divorce’ that Christ forbids, for it brings depravity into the world. ”

“ It is not our human institution of marriage that makes really lawful the union of man and woman. I consider as sacred and obligatory that union alone between a man and a woman which, once and forever, cannot be broken without violating the will of God. ”

“ I dare not amass riches for myself. I dare not use violence of any kind against my fellow-creatures, except, perhaps, against a child in order to save it from present harm; nor can I now take part in any act of authority, the purpose of which is to protect men’s property by violence. ”

“ I can no longer give way to idleness and an easy life, which always tends to excite inordinate desires, nor can I find pleasure in novel reading, poetry, music, or balls, which I had hitherto regarded, not only as innocent, but even as refined occupations. I cannot forsake my wife, for I now know that my doing so is a snare for others, for her, and for myself; I cannot cooperate in the idle and and easy lives of other people ”

“ I cannot support sexual liasons of mature people without obligations; neither can I cooperate in the separation of any husband and wife; I cannot make distinctions between liasons officially called marriages and the common-in-law ones. Every union between a man and woman I consider to be sacred and binding to the end of their days. ”

“ Christ has revealed to me that the fourth temptation, depriving me of my happiness, is ‘resisting evil by violence.’ I know that my doing so leads others and me into evil, and cannot therefore justify myself by saying that it is necessary for the protection of others, of my property, or of myself. ”

“ I can no longer justify this feeling to myself by acknowledging the superiority of my own nation over others, or by the cruelty or barbarity of any other nation. I cannot help trying to be kinder and more friendly toward a foreigner than toward my own countrymen, rather than otherwise. ”

“ On recalling to mind all the evil that I did myself and that I suffered from others in consequence of the enmity that so often exists between different nations, it is clear to me that the cause was the gross imposition called ‘patriotism’ and the ‘love to native land’. ”

“ I can no longer try to rise above other men and to separate myself from them, nor can I allow either rank or title for others or myself, except the title of ‘man’. I can no longer seek fame or glory, nor can I help trying to get rid of my riches, which separate me from my fellow-creatures. ”

“ I cannot help seeking in my way of life, in its surroundings, in my food, my clothes, and my manners to everything that connects me with the majority of people, and to avoid all that separates me from them. ”

“ If all the members of a family were Christians, and gave up their lives to the service of others, not one man would deprive them of food or kill those who can serve him. Mikluha Mackli settled among a most brutal tribe of savages ”