Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tolstoy on being a doer of the word

I put this up for the next person looking to track it to source.  Christian doesn't hesitate over the date (1847):

"It is easier to write ten volumes of philosophy than to put a single precept into practice."

Leo Tolstoy, Diary entry dated 17 March 1846 or 1847, trans. C. J. Hogarth & A. Sirnis.  The diaries of Leo Tolstoy:  youth, 1847-1852, trans. C. J. Hogarth & A. Sirnis (London:  J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.; New York:  E.P. Dutton & Co.; Paris:  J. M. Dent & Fils, 1917), 2.


"It's easier to write ten volumes of philosophy than to put one single principle into practice."

Leo Tolstoy, Diary entry dated 17 March 1847, trans. R. F. Christian.  Tolstoy's diaries, Volume I, 1847-1894, ed. & trans. R. F. Christian (London:  The Athlone Press, 1985), 4.

No comments: