1,507 Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

There are no conditions of life to which a man cannot accustom himself, especially if he sees that every one around him lives in the same way.

All these institutions [prisons] seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice, condensed to such a degree that no other conditions could produce it, and for the spreading of this condensed depravity and vice broadcast among the whole population.

Why nowadays there's a new fashion every day.

It's too easy to criticize a man when he's out of favour, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else's mistakes.

He never chooses an opinion, he just wears whatever happens to be in style.

He was a passionate adherent of the new ideas and of Speransky, and the busiest purveyor of news in Petersburg, one of those men who choose their opinions like their clothes—according to the fashion—but for that very reason seem the most vehement partisans

Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking...

It's wrong, what you say, and I beg you, if you're a good man,to forget what you've said, as I forget it," she said at last."Not one word, not one gesture of yours shall I, could I, everforget...

Boredom: the desire for desires.