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by
Leo Tolstoy
Read between
May 21 - October 23, 2022
Everyone can feel God, but no one can truly understand God. Thus, do not attempt to understand God, but try instead to feel God’s presence within you. If you are unable to find God there, then you will never find Him.
We know in our hearts that we should strive for unification with all people. The more united we become, the better our lives will be. Likewise, the more we separate from each other, the worse our lives will be.
People tend to be proud of things for which they should be ashamed, such as their wealth or power over others.
It is all right when people praise you for your work. But it is wrong to do your work in order to be praised by others.
You cannot be loved and praised by all. Indeed, if you act as a good person, bad people will scold you. If you act as a bad person, good people will disapprove of your actions. The best solution is to be kind and good while ignoring the opinions of others.
A truth learned through another’s assertion sticks to us as though it does not belong, like a wax nose, for example. However, a truth you discover for yourself is like a part of your own body. It belongs to you.
We divide time into three parts: the past, the present, and the future. In reality, there is only a tiny point at which the future meets the past, and while this point may seem small, it is where our entire lives are concentrated.
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.
Ten good, decent men can lie down in a small room and have good night’s sleep on a floor covered with a simple blanket. However, two rich men cannot tolerate each other even in a mansion with ten bedrooms.
A person feels good, big, and important when comparing him or herself to an insect. Yet, when compared to the size of the earth, he or she feels small. When compared to the sun, the earth is but a tiny piece of sand. When compared to other big stars, the sun, too, is tiny. What is a person’s body when compared to the sun and the stars above? Nothing.
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.
A person cannot help but think there is something behind his or her life, that he or she is somebody’s tool made for a particular purpose. The someone, or something, that uses this tool is God.
God is eternal, all-embracing, and exists across space and time. God is all there is. There is no other God than this God. All exists in Him. 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.
We can improve each other’s lives not through money, gifts, good advice, or even work, but through love.
If 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.
I 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
A clever person knows that all he needs is within him, and wants to keep on improving himself. A stupid person wants others to treat him nicely, and grows angry if they do not give him what he wants. A clever person has no one to be angry at.
One who pays too much attention to what other people say about him will never find peace.
The only way to eliminate violence is not to participate in it.
You need to know a lot to understand how little you know.
If you are unsure, abstain from both speech and action. This is a very important rule to follow.
Most of the evil deeds committed by people are committed not because people are evil but because they believe in evil ideas expressed by others. We must never take others’ ideas for granted.
Our thoughts are like guests. We are not to blame for the kinds of guests we have, whether good or bad. But it is within our power to get rid of bad thoughts and to keep only those that are good.
A person can escape the unhappiness that befalls him but not the unhappiness he creates himself.
It is often said or thought that it is difficult to fulfill the law of God. This is not true. God does not ask you for anything other than to love God and your neighbor, and love is not difficult but joyful.
All our troubles come from the fact that we forget that God lives within us.
When you are paid for your work by others, you never know what your labor truly costs. When I sit at court, play violin, and write books, I receive daily a hundred, even a thousand times more than a worker does for a hard day of physical labor. I ask myself: Do I cost that much? Therefore, so as not to be in the wrong, try to work a lot and ask little for your work.
Nothing results in bad deeds and actions more than belonging to a group of people, a club or society, who think they are better than others. The most astonishing fact is that belonging to such a closed society is considered by some to be a virtue.
If I can force others to do what I think is good, then someone can force me to do what he thinks is good, even if we have opposing views on the subject.
True kindness in not only a virtue but also a weapon, a weapon more powerful than violence.
How strange! We become angry at the evil around us, which we cannot change, yet we do nothing to conquer the evil inside us, which we can.
In the same way that a plant cannot live without sunlight, people cannot live without love.
Changes in our lives start with the changes in our thoughts. Changes in how we think are much more important than the efforts we make to change our lives.
It is not enough to say that each person has a s-i-m-i-l-a-r spirit living inside of him, it is the s-a-m-e spirit that lives in us all, myself included.
Only those who recognize the same God in every person can embrace God in themselves.
Remember, the same spirit lives in everyone. It lives in you, in me, and in others. Thus, you should not only love others but treat them as holy, because you are addressing their spirit, which is the same as your own.
Hell hides behind pleasure, paradise hides behind work and trouble. — MUHAMMAD
The purpose of man is to serve God and all people, not serve some and do evil to others.
To help yourself not do evil deeds, first try to avoid evil conversation. Even more important is to rid yourself of all evil thoughts.
Just as a farmer separates his best seeds from the bad, and nurtures and takes care of them, so a clever person does with his thoughts. He gets rid of the bad ones, keeps the best ones, and cares for them.
It is only when you live for your body alone that your suffering seems evil to you. If you think the purpose of your life is to improve your inner self, then you will come to understand that suffering is good for you; for without it, there can be no spiritual improvement.
You should live both in eternity and in the present. Work as if you will live forever, and treat others as if you may die tonight.
In the most important questions of your life, you are always alone. No one other than you can understand your true history, your life story, as it develops. The essence of true life is your attitude, during the different stages of your life, toward your spiritual self, and your ability to follow that voice living inside you.
Everywhere I look, I see the conspiracy of the rich, who, under the pretext of helping the poor, seek out any advantage and profit only for themselves. — SIR THOMAS MORE
Love your enemies, and you won’t have any.
Sinning is our job. Making up excuses and explaining away our sins is the devil’s job.
The more you question your actions with your intellect, the freer your life becomes.
A farmer’s cow feeds you and your children with milk, and his sheep keep you warm with their wool for many years. What is their reward? Cut their throats, and eat them.
When a person studies God’s law but doesn’t show another how to follow it, it reminds me of a farmer who plows his soil but fails to plant his seeds.
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; we need the patience to live with them and still keep improving ourselves. You may worry about many things: your lack of money, illness, humiliation, and libel. But as soon as you pity yourself, you feel miserable. 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. When you are not satisfied in your life, be like a snail and
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