God creates Art by …

God creates Art by man, having for a tool the human intellect. The great Workman has made this tool for himself; he has no other.

William Shakespeare by Victor Hugo 

Our body is a living-machine. It is organized for …

Our body is a living-machine. It is organized for that purpose, that is its nature; let the life in it be left to itself; let it defend itself; it will do more than 

if you paralyze it by loading it down with remedies. Our body is like a perfect watch which is meant to go a certain time; the watchmaker cannot open it; he can only regulate it by his sense of feeling and with his eyes shut. Our body is a living-machine, that is all it is.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy   

A good leader on the field of battle needs not genius or any of the …

A good leader on the field of battle needs not genius or any of the special qualities so much as he needs the exact opposite, or the lack of the highest human qualities- love, poetry, affection, a philosophical, investigating skepticism. He must be narrowminded, firmly convinced that what he is doing is absolutely essential (otherwise he will not have patience), and then only will he be a brave leader. God pity him if he is a man who has any love for any one, or any pity, or has any scruples about right or wrong.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Forgiveness is a woman`s …

Forgiveness is a woman`s virtue. But a man has no right and no power to forgive and forget.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Sorrow is sent by Him, and comes not from …

Sorrow is sent by Him, and comes not from men.Men are His instruments; they are not accountable. If it seem to you that any one is culpable toward you, forget it and forgive.We have no right to punish.And you will find happiness in forgiving.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Those whom God wishes to …

Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

History, that is to say, the unconscious, universal life of …

History, that is to say, the unconscious, universal life of humanity, in the aggregate, every moment profits by the life of kings for itself, as an instrument for the accomplishment of its own ends.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Every man has a twofold life: on one side is his personal life, which is free in …

Every man has a twofold life: on one side is his personal life, which is free in proportion as its interests are abstract; the other is life as an element, as one bee in the swarm; and here a man has no chance of disregarding the laws imposed on him.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Every man lives for himself, and enjoys sufficient freedom for the attainment of …

Every man lives for himself, and enjoys sufficient freedom for the attainment of his own personal ends, and is conscious in his whole being that he can instantly perform or refuse to perform any action; but as soon as he has done it, this action, accomplished in a definite period of time, becomes irrevocable and forms an element in history, in which it takes its place with a fully preordained and no longer capricious significance.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

To criticize a man in disfavor is very easy, and so it …

To criticize a man in disfavor is very easy, and so it is to make him responsible for the blunders of others.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

When you go back, remembering, and …

When you go back, remembering, and remembering, and remembering everything, you remember so far back, that at last you remember what happened even before you were born. 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Why, for what purpose, should beings who are good and noble, and best made to…

Why, for what purpose, should beings who are good and noble, and best made to find happiness in life, who have not only never injured a living thing, but rather have sought only the happiness of others,- why should they be recalled to God; while the base and the vicious, or those who are only a burden to themselves and others, are left to live ? 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

You know sometimes this intimacy between cousins leads to …

You know sometimes this intimacy between cousins leads to love; cousinhood is a risky neighborhood ! that`s true, isn`t it ? 

War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy

Speaking of “our days” in a way affected by …

Speaking of “our days” in a way affected by narrow-minded people who labor under the delusion that they are the only ones to discover and appreciate the peculiarities of their time, and that the human nature changes with the changing years.

War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy

Only in the tumults of life can we attain the …

Only in the tumults of life can we attain the three chief ends: – ” (1) Self – knowledge, for a man can learn to know himself only through comparison; ” (2) Perfection, which is obtained only by battling ; and (3) The chief virtue, – Love of death.”  Only the vicissitudes of life can teach us its falsity and stimulate our innate love of death, or our new birth into another and better life.” 

War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy 

It is necessary now that a man, guided by…

It is necessary now that a man, guided by his senses, should find in virtue a genuine charm.It is impossible to eradicate the passions; one must, therefore, strive to guide them to salutary ends; and, accordingly, it is requisite that every man should satisfy them within the limits of virtue.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

All violent reforms deserve censure, because they can never do away with …

All violent reforms deserve censure, because they can never do away with evil as long as men are what they are; and, therefore, it is the part of wisdom not to employ violence. 

War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy 

Honor cannot be maintained by prerogatives that are injurious to …

Honor cannot be maintained by prerogatives that are injurious to the service; that honor, is either the negative concept of refraining from reprehensible actions, or it is the true fountain-head of impulse for the winning of approbation, and the rewards that are the fruit thereof.

War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy 

It`s easy to make…

It`s easy to make laws, but hard to execute them.

War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy 

When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to…

When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop – that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can.

The adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain