There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828–1910) was a Russian novelist, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. In middle age he underwent a profound change and turned to Christian anarchism and non-violence, renouncing property and the rights to his own work. His writing on non-violence influenced Gandhi directly.
About this theme: Wisdom
In the Western tradition wisdom is almost always defined by what it is not. Socrates is famous for claiming to know that he knew nothing; that was not modesty but method. Knowledge is a set of facts, wisdom is knowing what to do with them — and, more often, knowing when there are not enough of them.
More by Leo Tolstoy
More on Wisdom
- Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.— Lao Tzu
- An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.— Benjamin Franklin
- Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.— Arthur Schopenhauer
- He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.— Lao Tzu
- Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.— Baruch Spinoza