The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy Quotes

“If you get a hard word from any one, keep silent, and his own conscience will accuse him.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“And the slaves prided themselves on their master, saying: ‘There is no better lord than ours under the sun. He feeds and clothes us well, and gives us work suited to our strength. He bears no malice, and never speaks a harsh word to any one. He is not like other masters, who treat their slaves worse than cattle: punishing them whether they deserve it or not, and never giving them a friendly word. He wishes us well, does good, and speaks kindly to us. We do not wish for a better life.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“Loss and gain are brothers twain.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“I have now understood that though it seems to men that they live by care for themselves, in truth it is love alone by which they live. He who has love, is in God, and God is in him, for God is love.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“But his voice was broken, his face pale,”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“away again.’ ‘You are quite right,’ said the Chief. ‘We will make it over”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“Aksënov was a handsome, fair-haired, curly-headed fellow, full of fun and very fond of singing. When quite a young man he had been given to drink and was riotous when he had too much; but after he married he gave up drinking except now and then. One summer Aksënov was going to the Nizhny Fair, and as he bade goodbye to his family his wife said to him, “Iván Dmitrich, do not start today; I have had a bad dream about you.’ Aksënov laughed, and said, ‘You are afraid that when I get to the fair I shall go on the spree.’ His wife replied: ‘I do not know what I am afraid of; all I know is that I had a bad dream. I dreamt you returned from the town, and when you took off your cap I saw that your hair was quite grey.’ Aksënov laughed. ‘That’s a lucky sign,’ said he. ‘See if I don’t sell out all my goods and bring you some presents from the fair.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“Whether they win or lose, the King gains by it. 'You can't earn stone palaces by honest labor,' as the proverb says; and the Kinglet of Monaco knows it is a dirty business, but what is he to do? He has to live; and to draw a revenue from drink and from tobacco is also not a nice thing. So he lives and reigns, and rakes in the money, and holds his court with all the ceremony of a real king.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

“No, my son; Christ did not teach us foolish people to act in such a way. If any one should say an unkind word to you it is better not to answer at all; but if you do reply do it kindly, and his conscience will accuse him, and he will regret his unkindness to you.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Greatest Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy