Let's Explore What Others Ignore
Resurrection, published in 1899, was Tolstoy’s last novel and the cause of his being excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church. It’s powerful and depressing and thought-provoking in the extreme. Resurrection fully embodies Tolstoy’s method of writing after his religious awakening;…
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,…
“I long lived in this state of lunacy, which, in fact if not in words, is particularly characteristic of us very liberal and learned people.” (Leo Tolstoy, A Confession) Quite an admission from this towering figure of philosophy and literature.…
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…
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…
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…
Leo Tolstoy strove for something few artists attempt. He tried to live a moral life — so much so that in his later years he renounced his earlier novels, novels considered by many to be the finest ever written. He…