Leo Tolstoy Quotes on Knowledge
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian novelist and moral philosopher whose two great novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are among the supreme achievements of world literature. This page collects quotes attributed to Leo Tolstoy on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”
Thoughts of Prince Andrew Bk XII, Ch. 16 -
“Sevastopol in May (1855), Ch. 16”
The hero of my tale, whom I love with all the power of my soul, whom I have tried to portray in all his beauty, who has been, is, and will be beautiful, is Truth. -
“I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders.”
My Religion (1884), as translated in The Human Experience : Contemporary American and Soviet Fiction and Poetry (1989) by the Quaker US/USSR Committee -
“There is one evident, indubitable manifestation of the Divinity, and that is the laws of right which are made known to the world through Revelation.”
Anna Karenina(1875–1877; 1878) | Pt. VIII, ch. 19 -
“Go — take the mother's soul, and learn three truths: Learn What dwells in man, What is not given to man , and What men live by . When thou hast learnt these things, thou shalt return to heaven.”
What Men Live By(1881) | Ch. IV -
“He did not, and could not, understand the meaning of words apart from their context. Every word and action of his was the manifestation of an activity unknown to him, which was his life.”
War and Peace(1865–1867; 1869) | About Platon Karataev in Bk. XII, ch. 13 -
“Now about your family. Do you know that since your daughter came out everyone has been enraptured by her? They say she is amazingly beautiful.”
War and Peace(1865–1867; 1869) | Bk. I, Ch. I -
“The only thing that we know is that we know nothing — and that is the highest flight of human wisdom.”
War and Peace(1865–1867; 1869) | Book V, Ch. I -
“Then I remembered the first lesson God had set me: "Learn what dwells in man." And I understood that in man dwells Love! I was glad that God had already begun to show me what He had promised, and I smiled for the first time.”
What Men Live By(1881) | Ch. XI -
“He knew she was there by the joy and fear that overwhelmed his heart.”
Anna Karenina(1875–1877; 1878) | Pt. I, ch. 9