A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se

by Leo Tolstoy

but in the domain of thoughts and the intellect, misconceptions may be accepted as truth for thousands of years, and make a laughingstock of whole nations, mute the noble wishes of mankind, make slaves from people and lie to them. These misconceptions are the enemies with which the wisest men in the history of mankind try to struggle.

The force of the truth is great, but its victory is difficult. However, once you receive this victory, it can never be taken from you.

The exposure of a lie is as valuable to a community as a clea...

Disbelief is not when a person believes or does not believe in something. It is when he prophesies those things in which he does not believe. —HARRIET

Bad things are easy to do, good things are done only with work and effort.

person cries out from pain when he takes up hard physical work after a period of idleness. Any rest from the struggle for spiritual improvement brings the same pain.

We cannot prevent birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from making nests on top of our heads. Similarly, bad thoughts sometimes appear in our mind, but we can choose whether we allow them to live there, to create a nest for themselves, and to breed evil deeds.

Socrates did not have the weakness of many scholars, the desire to know about all possible things, to learn the origins and explanations of things—what

“Is it true that people are so concerned with these earthly things?

People wrongly think that they should know everything. They think that they can despise the most necessary and important fields of knowledge, and penetrate the mysteries that do not belong to us.”

Knowledge is limitless, and the most scholarly and educated person is as far from true knowledge as an uneducated peasant. —JOHN

cannot imagine the scope of our ignorance, just as a blind man cannot imagine darkness until he can see.

is better to know less than necessary than to know more than necessary. Do not fear the lack of knowledge, but truly fear unnecessary knowledge ...

Real work is always quiet, constant, and inconspicuous.

is not enough to be a hardworking person. Think: what do you work at? —HENRY DAVID THOREAU

The more I dedicate my time to two things, the more they fill my life with ever-increasing pleasure. The first is the sky above me, and the second is the moral law within me.

As soon as you start blaming a person, stop yourself. Remember not to say something bad about someone, even if you know it to be true, and especially if you are not certain but are only repeating gossip.

Most people act, not according to their meditations, and not according to their feelings, but as if hypnotized, based on some senseless repetition of patterns. You should be brave enough to use your own intellect, in life and in your education. —IMMANUEL KANT

you see that you are not behaving according to your inner desires, but because of some outer influence, stop and consider whether what drives you is good or bad.

Most people do not listen to God but adore him. It is better not to adore but to listen.

Moral teaching is not complete if it is not religious, but religious teaching is useless if it is not based on morality, that is, if it does not lead to a good life.

The more a person expresses his love, the more people love him; and the more people love him, the easier it is for him to love others. In this way, love is eternal.

Illnesses of the mind are much more dangerous than illnesses of the body.

have spent all my life amongst wise people, and I found nothing better than silence in this world. If a word costs one coin, then silence costs two. Silence suits clever people, and it suits wise people even more. —The TALMUD

The majority of people want to do something unusual and difficult in order to improve their lives, but they would be better to purify their wishes, and improve their inner selves.

In order to understand the truth, you should not suppress your intellect. On the contrary, you should purify your intellect, exercise it, and intellectually try and test everything which we can possibly put to the test.

Only in the storm can you see the art of the real sailor; only on the battlefield can you see the bravery of a soldier. The courage of a simple person can be seen in how he copes with the difficult and dangerous situations in life.

The legend about the wandering Jew who was suffering the punishment of eternal life is very true. In the same way, there is a legend about a man who was punished by being given a life without any suffering.

Evil influence can be destroyed only by good influence. And the way to receive a good influence is to have a good life.

The man who considers service to God to be the purpose of his life is always humble, because he feels that he has never fulfilled his obligations.

deed is truly good only when its motivation is to fulfill the law of God. If you care too much about being praised, in the end you will not accomplish anything serious. People have different values. You may say, “I want good people to value me,” but you know you will respect only those who praise your actions.

He has power who can keep silent in an argument, even though he is right.

You should abstain from arguments. They are very illogical ways to convince people. Opinions are like nails: the stronger you hit them, the deeper inside they go.

Christ never founded any church, never created any state, never passed any law, never established any government or other authority. He wanted to put the law of God into the hearts of people, to make them self-governed.

similitude, to fulfill our duty for the purpose of its reward.

Every time you wake up and ask yourself, “What good things am I going to do today?” remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it.

Never build, but always plant: in the case of the first, nature will interfere and destroy the creation of your work, but in the case of the second, nature will help you, causing growth in everything you planted. The same thing happens in your spiritual life: those things which are in harmony with the eternal laws of human nature will grow, but those things which correspond to the temporal wishes of people will not.

The question of life’s meaning is a difficult problem which cannot be solved. So, too, is the question, “Why did God send us into this world?” But the meaning of life becomes very simple when a person asks himself, “What should I do?” Your life may be cut short at any time; therefore, your life should have a deep purpose, a significance that will not depend on whether it is short or long. There is only one way, if you want to live without understanding the meaning of your life: to become addicted to tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, and to live in the world of permanent entertainment. This world is not a joke but rather a place for a trial, a way station to a better, eternal world. Our purpose is to make it a better and more joyous place to live, for those who live with us and those who come after us. Our soul’s perfection is our life’s purpose; any other purpose, keeping death in mind, has no substance.