Leo Tolstoy Quotes
Novelist, philosopher
Leo Tolstoy was novelist, philosopher from Russia
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”— Leo Tolstoy
This is among Tolstoy's most widely cited statements, reflecting a conviction that dominated the second half of his life. After writing War and Peace, he underwent a spiritual crisis that led him to reject organized religion, private property, and state authority. He believed that social reform without personal moral reform was hypocrisy. He attempted to live by his own standard, giving up meat, making his own clothing, and renouncing wealth, though his family resisted and his personal life remained messy. The quote captures the core of Tolstoyan philosophy: the only revolution that matters begins inside.
The Story of Leo
The Station at Astapovo
For the last thirty years of his life, Tolstoy was the most famous person in Russia. Pilgrims came to Yasnaya Polyana to see him. Governments feared him. The Orthodox Church excommunicated him in 1901. He kept writing. He wrote The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Hadji Murad, and Resurrection. His marriage deteriorated into open warfare. Sophia and his disciple Chertkov fought over his manuscripts and his will. On October 28, 1910, at the age of eighty-two, Tolstoy left home in the middle of the night. He told no one where he was going. He caught pneumonia on a train and was taken off at the station of Astapovo. He died there on November 7. Thousands of people walked to the station. It was the first public funeral in Russia held without a church service.
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