Wise Thoughts for Every Day: On God, Love, the Human Spirit, and Living a Good Life

by Leo Tolstoy

one suffers, the others suffer too. In the same way, when one is happy, the happiness spreads and makes others happy. You will

understand this life only when you will see yourself in every

A thinking person can feel the presence of his own spirit and the universal spirit — God. But as soon as he tries to clarify and explain these

The body wants what is best for itself, even if it harms the spirit. The spirit wants what is best for itself, even if it harms the body. This struggle disappears

but the body is just a place where your eternal soul temporarily abides.

If you expect a reward for your love, it is not true love. The essential quality of love is to give blessings to all who are around you without asking for something in return.

spiritual self grows when exposed to God’s spirit.

In the spiritual world, all is more closely connected than in the material world.

To have a good life, your body should serve your spirit, not the other way around.

The less attention you pay to food, expensive clothes, and entertainment, the more freedom you will have.

Nothing harms a good life more than neglecting simple, everyday work — making your own food, cleaning your house, and doing your laundry. Many rich people neglect such chores, but to an honest person this is the most important work of his life.

Don’t despise or praise others. If you despise them, you will not see the good in them. If you praise them too highly, your expectations for them will be too great. Show respect for others, as they do for you.

It is foolish when one person thinks himself superior to another person.

Most sins and temptations grow weaker over the years as you age. However, you will have to struggle with the sin of vanity from childhood to old age.

of wealth and riches that no one can take from you, that remain with you even after death and never go away. Such riches are stored in your spirit, in a life filled with love.

Servants in the homes of the rich constitute an absurdity that contradicts Christianity.

People who preach morality often limit their responsibility to their family or country, but in doing so they teach selfishness.

when we believe people must be punished for doing something wrong. We don’t get rid of evil but multiply it when we return evil for evil.

The only real way

to improve society is to improve your spiritual self.

The ability of the mind to absorb knowledge is not unlimited. Therefore, you should not believe the more you know, the better. The knowledge of many unimportant things is an obstacle to true knowledge.

back on his old ways but eventually always returns to his efforts. This step back is always smaller than his progress forward. If a person wants to improve his inner life, he will eventually succeed.

you cook a meal in a careless, sloppy way, you don’t expect God to make it tasty.

If one iota of the effort people put into getting rich, entertaining themselves, or arguing were invested in improving their inner self and not fighting their conscience, soon all the evil would disappear from this world.

The less you judge others, the better it will be for you.

All you have to do is not spoil it.

Just as the lives of men are defined not by their actions but by the inner thoughts guiding their actions, the same can be said about entire nations. They

One great thought lodged in the soul of a man can change his whole life.

True virtue does not speak about itself or show off. False virtue wants to strut and boast.

The less you pay attention to your body, the more you will gain in your spiritual life. You have to choose what is more important to you.

If you live your whole life into the present, you will

have no questions about your future life, before or after death.

From this, you see why a person needs to make an effort in life to overcome obstacles. We should not complain about our difficulties but surmount them.

If you understand yourself as a spiritual being, you can save yourself from all troubles. No matter what happens to you, you will be untouchable.

Feeling compassion toward all living creatures is essential to becoming a virtuous person.

In order to get along well with other people, you must contemplate those things that unite you, not those that separate you.

call God.

All life, when it appears, does not come from nothing, but rather, from God. And when death takes us, it does not take us to nothing, it takes us back to God.

you can rise above your rage and anger, and forgive and be kind to those who have harmed you, you are doing the best a person is capable of.

When you concentrate your efforts in your body and not on your spiritual growth, you are like a bird walking on its weak legs instead of flying where it wants on its powerful wings.

am ashamed in front of my woodcutter, my baker, and my cook, because they have the ability to satisfy themselves; they can live without my help for a day, or even a year. As for me, I must depend on them. — RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Just as dust thrown into the wind returns to the person who threw it, evil returns to those who commit evil.

However, people don’t think highly of the proud, so a proud person never gets what he wants.

proud person seems as though covered in a shell of ice. No good feeling can penetrate.

God’s spirit, living inside you, will reward you instantly, and this spiritual reward is better than anything anyone else can give you.

For this to happen, you need do only one thing: improve your inner self.

The only way to improve this world is through your own spiritual self-improvement.

Therefore, what is good about a person is their effort to become better. Confront every obstacle that interferes with your ability to love.

Pay attention to everything you do, and do not think anything unworthy of your attention.

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