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

by Leo Tolstoy

Try to direct all your good qualities toward helping others.

However, those who are proud think differently. They think that if they have something others do not, they should

When I understand the life of others and love them, then I live a godly life.

Only God should punish people.

Real life happens not in our grand deeds, or when we move, clash, or go to war but in the small, hardly noticeable changes that take place in our souls.

Only humility stops everything that builds obstacles in the way of peace for all.

When we talk about religion, the older the spiritual food, the more precious it

To do something properly, you must know how to do it. This concerns any activity. To live a good life, you must learn how to live a good life. To do this, you must make an effort.

We often want to do great, important things. Yet we should not try to achieve anything great, only that which God’s spirit, dwelling in us, tells us to do.

Thinking that you can change some small aspect of your life and it will suddenly become better is thinking as some children do: that by sitting on a carpet and tugging on its ends, you can fly.

The more humble you are, the stronger you are, and the firmer you stand.

Every day, make an effort.

True love is possible only when you are humble.

Do not give in to your passions or to false opinion. Both lead to a life filled with lies.

If you truly want to be free, curb your desires.

What is the best thing to do when you are in a hurry? The answer: Nothing.

By avoiding what you should not do, you will inevitably start doing the things

you should do in order to lead a good life.

The best way to attract the love of others is to ignore their flaws and talk only about their good qualities.

All things that are necessary for people, such as intelligence and faith, are not given to them all at once but are achieved over time and by constant work.

The closer you want to become to God, the more you should concentrate on the present.

To live a good life and do good, remind yourself often that sooner or later you will die.

You can look at life as a dream, and death as an awakening.

Wise men are always happy.

We should live in our spiritual life and devote all our efforts to it.

“Me,” according to my senses and my body, is a link between my ancestors and descendants, just a temporary piece of flesh. What really exists is my inner self, my inner spirit. This is the real “me.”

When you have doubts about God, look for a deeper understanding.

A clever and thoughtful person can see the power of God even in the smallest and least significant things happening around

Being in a bad mood is harmful for others but can be useful to you when you are working in solitude on your inner perfection.

All smoking and alcoholic beverages that stupefy us were created by idle people for the main purpose of ridding themselves of boredom.

All anger comes from weakness. — JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

you want to be happy, try only to please God, not people.

We should learn how to love in the same way people learn how to play the violin.

Jesus Christ tried to improve the inner person. This is the opposite of what the Pharisees were doing, taking care only of appearances.

Christ taught that out of all things we are doing, there is only one that brings true love and happiness — loving each other.

material and spiritual poison is that material poison tastes bad when you try it, but spiritual poison, in the form of bad newspapers or books, often looks attractive to us.

But in the study of the inner spiritual world, science is not only unnecessary but can lead you to make wrong decisions.

Deep inside of you, there is a source of goodness. It is like a well that flows better when you keep it clean and keep digging deeper.

do good when we forget about ourselves, and live for the interests of others.

you are seeking someone to be a role model for your life, try to find a simple and humble person. Only among such people can be found true greatness.

comfort the sick are all good things, but there is one more besides these: to help others get rid of their prejudices, mistakes, and erroneous views about life.

When you feel depressed, or in a bad mood, think of yourself as being sick. Do not move too much, do not do anything, just wait until you are feeling better.

Those who criticize me behind my back are afraid of me; those who praise me to my face hate me. — CHINESE PROVERB

Two things can reveal faulty thinking: to be silent when you need to speak, or to speak when you should be silent.

person’s fate follows his train of thought. A person can visualize and create his life with his thoughts.

true prayer is crucial to your spirit, because when you talk to God directly, your intellect can attain its highest level of ability.

Our life and thoughts are the same. Life is born in our hearts and formed by our thoughts. If one speaks and acts with good thoughts, then joy will follow like a shadow that never leaves.

We have two kinds of problems in our lives. The first are solvable problems, where we have to make every effort to resolve them. The second are those we cannot solve or overcome;

When you try to make the best you can of any situation instead of feeling desperate, you will feel confident and energetic about your life.

But if there were no suffering, we would not know our limits.