Brad Shorr
Tolstoy’s last major work was A Calendar of Wisdom, Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul. He wrote many of the sayings, and included or adapted those of many others. Often cited names include Marcus Aurelius, Cicero, Confucius, Emerson, Goethe, Kant, Lao-Tzu, Blaise Pascal, Rousseau, John Ruskin, Seneca, Thoreau —along with…
Leo Tolstoy’s non-fiction book The Kingdom of God Is Within You is a forceful argument for non-violent resistance — and against organized religion, governments, and the entirety of pagan civilization under which we have lived for thousands of years. Throw Christianity and several dollops of libertarianism, anarchism, pacifism, and Distributism in a blender,…
Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? Translated by Richard Paver and Larissa Volokhonsky What Is Art? Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) spent 15 years mulling over the question before finally publishing his profound essay of that title in 1897. Today’s readers may find many of his conclusions utterly shocking — for example, that the works…
G.K. Chesterton and Leo Tolstoy have exerted enormous influence on thinking with regard to theology, philosophy, politics, economics, social organization, the arts, and science. Both men considered themselves Christians, and both saw themselves as champions of the common man. And yet, it is hard to imagine two men more unlike…