War and Peace (Russian: Война и мир, Pre-reform Russian: «Война и миръ») is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is considered one of the most celebrated works of fiction. It is regarded as Tolstoy's finest literary achievement, along with... read more
“Wealth, power, life itself, all the things that men put so much effort into building up and maintaining, if they have any value at all, are never worth more than the pleasure to be had by renouncing them.”Pierre
“At moments of departure and change of life people capable of reflecting on their actions usually get into a serious state of mind. At these moments they usually take stock of the past and make plans for the future.”Narrator
“Never, never marry, my friend. That’s my advice: never marry till you can say to yourself that you have done all you are capable of, and until you have ceased to love the woman of your choice and have seen her plainly as she is, or else you will make a cruel and irrevocable mistake. Marry when you are old and good for nothing—or all that is good and noble in you will be lost. It will all be wasted on trifles. Yes! Yes! Yes! Don’t look at me with such surprise. If you marry expecting anything from yourself in the future, you will feel at every step that for you all is ended, all is closed except the drawing room, where you will be ranged side by side with a court lackey and an idiot…”Prince Andre
“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”Leo Tolstoy
'We don't love people so much for the good they have done us, as for the good we have done them.'Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
The German's self-assurance is worst of all, stronger and more repulsive than any other, because he imagines that he knows the truth—science—which he himself has invented but which is for him the absolute truth.Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
Power is the collective will of the people transferred, by expressed or tacit consent, to their chosen rulers.Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
Anna Pavlovna Scherer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Marya Fedorovna.Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
Each man lives for himself, using his freedom to attain his personal aims, and feels with his whole being that he can now do or abstain from doing this or that action; but as soon as he has done it, that action performed at a certain moment in time becomes irrevocable and belongs to history, in which it has not a free but a predestined significance.Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
Influence in society, however, is a capital which has to be economized if it is to last.Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
'Never, never marry, my dear fellow! That's my advice: never marry till you can say to yourself that you have done all you are capable of, and until you have ceased to love the woman of your choice and have seen her plainly as she is, or else you will make a cruel and irrevocable mistake. Marry when you are old and good for nothing—or all that is good and noble in you will be lost. It will all be wasted on trifles.Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
In historic events the so-called great men are labels giving names to events, and like labels they have but the smallest connection with the event itself. Every act of theirs, which appears to them an act of their own will, is in an historical sense involuntary and is related to the whole course of history and predestined from eternity.Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
He used to say that there are only two sources of human vice—idleness and superstition, and only two virtues—activity and intelligence.Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Contents BOOK ONE: 1805 Chapter IHighlighted by 3 Kindle customers
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