A few great hearts have urged a different way. Tolstoy is saying, maybe, that Alyosha is just such a (rare, spiritual) person. Was Jesus not serious when he said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you”? Did Gandhi not mean it when he said, “Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”? Was the Buddha being facetious when he said, “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule”?
