I led the life of so many other so-called respectable people,—that is, in debauchery. And like the majority, while leading the life of a debauche, I was convinced that I was a man of irreproachable morality.
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Other Quotes by "Leo Tolstoy"

Faith is the sense of life, that sense by virtue of which man does not destroy himself, but continues to live on. It is the force whereby we live.
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Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity.
Tags: himself, universal, humanity, man
In actuality, it was like the homes of all people who are not really rich but who want to look rich, and therefore end up looking like one another: it had damasks, ebony, plants, carpets, and bronzes, everything dark and gleaming—all the effects a certain class of people produce so as to look like people of a certain class. And his place looked so much like the others that it would never have been noticed, though it all seemed quite exceptional to him.
— Leo Tolstoy The Death of Ivan Ilych And Other Stories
Tags: furniture, death, class
A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.
Tags: work, usefulness, rest, neighborliness, nature, music, life, happiness, country, contentment, conduct-of-life, books
All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Tags: own, way, unhappy, happy, family
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