From: Count Leo Tolstoï . Church and State and Other Essays. Boston, Mass.: Benjamin R. Tucker, Publisher. Translated by Victor Yarros FAITH is that which invests life with meaning, that which gives strength and direction to life. Every living man discovers this meaning and lives upon it. Having failed to discover it, he dies. In his search, man avails himself of all that humanity has achieved. All that has been achieved by humanity is called revelation. Revelation is that which helps man to comprehend the meaning of life. Such is the relation of man to faith. What a wonderful thing, then! Men appear, who toil unceasingly to make other people enjoy just this and no other form or revelation; who cannot rest until others accept their, ju... (From : Anarchy Archives.)
1896 January 23. Moscow. Just a month that I made no entries. During this time I wrote a letter about patriotism and a letter to Crosby and here now for two weeks I have been writing the drama. I wrote three acts abominably. I thought to make an outline so as to form a charpente. I have little hope of success. Chertkov and Kenworthy went away the 7th. Sonya went to Tver to Andrusha. To-day Nagornov died. I am again a little indisposed. I jotted down during this time: 1) A true work of art—a contagious one—is produced only when the artist seeks, strives. In poetry this passion for representing that which is, comes from the fact that the artist hopes that having seen clearly and having fixed that which is, he w...
CHAPTER III. CHRISTIANITY MISUNDERSTOOD BY BELIEVERS. Meaning of Christian Doctrine, Understood by a Minority, has Become Completely Incomprehensible for the Majority of MenReason of this to be Found in Misinterpretation of Christianity and Mistaken Conviction of Believers and Unbelievers Alike that they Understand itThe Meaning of Christianity Obscured for Believers by the ChurchThe First Appearance of Christ's TeachingIts Essence and Difference from Heathen ReligionsChristianity not Fully Comprehended at the Beginning, Became More and More Clear to those who Accepted it from its Correspondence with TruthSimultaneously with this Arose the Claim to Possession of the Authentic Meaning of the Doctrine Based on the Miraculous Nature of its TransmissionAssembly of Disciples as Described in the ActsThe Authoritative Claim to the Sole Possession of the True Meaning of Christ's Teaching Supported by Miraculous Evidence has Led by...
MY RELIGION. BY COUNT LEO TOLSTOI. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. NEW YORK: THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., 13 Astor Place. Copyright by Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1885. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. To one not familiar with the Russian language the accessible data relative to the external life of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi, the author of this book, are, to say the least, not voluminous. His name does not appear in that heterogeneous record of celebrities known as The Men of the Time, nor is it to be found in M. Vapereau's comprehensive Dictionnaire des Contemporains. And yet Count Leo Tolstoi is acknowledged by competent critics to be a man of extraordinary genius, who, certainly in one instance, has produced a masterpiece of literature which will continue to rank with the great artistic productions of this age. Perhaps it is enough for us to know that he w...