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0 sats \ 8 replies \ @Reign 27 Apr \ parent \ on: Stacker Saloon
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Were you thinking of anything in particular?
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“ There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth." "To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people can't eat it." "True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”
Read that and tell me it doesn’t just sound like a bunch of words that sound good put together. The whole thought really is quite pointless and ill-thought. That is considered one of his more famous quotes.
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That seems like three distinct quotes from different works, though I don't know which.
I'm very sceptical of internet quote culture, I find it to be a huge net negative in terms of understanding. It seems that everyone points to the same few lines of the same few works and very often they make no sense outside of their context. To point to the original quote:
When you understand everything you can forgive everything.
That's taken from War and Peace and I recognised it, but it's a female character written by Tolstoy quoting a French-Swiss author who wrote:
Comprendre, c'est pardonner.
In the novel, she says (in French):
Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner.
It's usually translated as:
To understand all is to forgive all.
It helps paint the character and illustrates the influence of French thought and language in Russia at the time of Napolean's attempt to conquer it. Throughout the novel, Tolstoy is scathing as regards the Russian aristocracy and its mindless acceptance of Western European culture. Like Dostoevsky, he sees it as a mark of low self-esteem in the Russian character.
So in the end, I find reading quotes and making assessments based on them can often lead to judgements that don't reflect the author's work or intentions.
I'm fond of Tolstoy but he has a huge of body of work I haven't read. I was just very surprised at the level of vitriol, I've never seen that before regarding his work.
I'm not familiar with Leo Tolstoy's work. And even that statement is debatable, which is also why I'm sharing it.