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Novels of Leo Tolstoy
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Anna Karenina
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Boyhood
Again two carriages stood at the front door of the house at Petrovskoe. In one of them sat Mimi, the two girls, and their
maid, with the bailiff, Jakoff, on the box, while in the other--a
britchka--sat Woloda, myself, and our servant Vassili. Papa, who
was to follow us to Moscow in a few days, was standing bareheaded
on the entrance-steps. He made the sign of the cross at the
windows of the carriages
The Purpose of This Life
What are the fruits of the human world? They are the
spiritual attributes which appear in man. If man is bereft
of those attributes, he is like a fruitless tree. One
whose aspiration is lofty and who has developed self-
reliance will not be content with a mere animal existence.
He will seek the divine Kingdom; he will long to be in
heaven although he still walks the earth in his material
body, and though his outer visage be physical, his face
of inner reflection will become spiritual and heavenly.
Until this station is attained by man, his life will be
utterly devoid of real outcomes. The span of his existence
will pass away in eating, drinking and sleeping, without
eternal fruits, heavenly traces or illumination—without
spiritual potency, everlasting life or the lofty
attainments intended for him during his pilgrimage through
the human world. You must thank God that your efforts are
high and noble, that your endeavors are worthy, that your
intentions are centered upon the Kingdom of God and that
your supreme desire is the acquisition of eternal virtues.
You must act in accordance with these requirements. A man
may be a Baha’i in name only. If he is a Baha’i in reality,
his deeds and actions will be decisive proofs of it. What
are the requirements? Love for mankind, sincerity toward
all, reflecting the oneness of the world of humanity,
philanthropy, becoming enkindled with the fire of the love
of God, attainment to the knowledge of God and that which
is conducive to human welfare.
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace,
1982 edition, p. 336)
Resurrection
Though hundreds of thousands had done their very best to disfigure the small piece of land on which they were crowded
together, by paying the ground with stones, scraping away every
vestige of vegetation, cutting down the trees, turning away birds
and beasts, and filling the air with the smoke of naphtha and
coal, still spring was spring, even in the town.
War and Peace Volume I
"Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my 'faithful slave,' as you call yourself!
But how do you do? I see I have frightened you -- sit down and tell me all the
news."
War and Peace Volume II
The Bible legend tells us that the absence of labor -- idleness -- was a condition of the first man's blessedness before the Fall. Fallen man has retained a love of idleness, but the curse weighs on the race not only because
we have to seek our bread in the sweat of our brows, but because our moral
nature is such that we cannot be both idle and at ease.
Childhood
"Suppose," I thought to myself," that I am only a small boy, yet why should he disturb me? Why does he not go killing flies around Woloda's bed? No; Woloda is older than I, and I am the youngest of the family, so he torments me. That is what he thinks of all day long--how to tease me.
Father Sergius
In Petersburg in the eighteen-forties a surprising event occurred. An officer of the Cuirassier Life Guards, a handsome prince who everyone predicted would become aide-de-camp to the
Emperor Nicholas I and have a brilliant career, left the service,
broke off his engagement to a beautiful maid of honour, a
favourite of the Empress's, gave his small estate to his sister,
and retired to a monastery to become a monk.
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories Ivan The Fool, A Lost Opportunity, Polikushka, The Candle.
Travellers left and entered our car at every stopping of the train. Three persons, however, remained, bound, like myself, for
the farthest station: a lady neither young nor pretty, smoking
cigarettes, with a thin face, a cap on her head, and wearing a
semi-masculine outer garment; then her companion, a very
loquacious gentleman of about forty years, with baggage entirely
new and arranged in an orderly manner; then a gentleman who held
himself entirely aloof, short in stature, very nervous, of
uncertain age,
Master and Man
Nikita was a peasant of about fifty from a neighbouring village, 'not a manager' as the peasants said of him, meaning
that he was not the thrifty head of a household but lived most
of his time away from home as a labourer. He was valued
everywhere for his industry, dexterity, and strength at work,
and still more for his kindly and pleasant temper.
Reminiscences Of Tolstoy By His Son, Count Ilya Tolstoy
Translated By George Calderon
I am afraid to believe it. It is too good to be true. My brother's chief characteristic was neither egotism nor self-
renunciation, but a strict mean between the two. He never
sacrificed himself for any one else; but not only always avoided
injuring others, but also interfering with them. He kept his
happiness and his sufferings entirely to himself.
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Pages Updated On: 1-March--MMVII
Copyright © MMI -- MMVII ArthursClassicNovels.com

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