This short exposition of the Gospel is a summary of a large work which exists in
manuscript and cannot be published in Russia.
That work consists of four parts:
An account (Confession) of the course of my own life and of the thoughts which led me to the conviction that the Christian teaching contains the truth.
An examination of the Christian teaching: first according to its interpretation by the Orthodox Russo-Greek Church, then according to its interpretation by the Church in general-by the Apostles, the Councils, the so-called Fathers of the Church-and an exposure of what is false in those interpretations.
An examination of Christian teaching not according to those interpretations but solely according to what has come down to us ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
One day some children found, in a ravine, a thing shaped like a grain of corn, with a groove down the middle, but as large as a hen's egg. A traveler passing by saw the thing, bought it from the children for a penny, and taking it to town sold it to the King as a curiosity.
The King called together his wise men, and told them to find out what the thing was. The wise men pondered and pondered and could not make head or tail of it, till one day, when the thing was lying on a window-sill, a hen flew in and pecked at it till she made a hole in it, and then every one saw that it was a grain of corn. The wise men went to the King, and said:
'It is a grain of corn.'
At this the King was much surprised; and he ordered the learned men to find out... (From: Wikisource.org.)
A long, long time ago there was a big drought on the earth. All the rivers dried up and the streams and wells, and the trees withered and the bushes and grass, and men and beasts died of thirst.
One night a little girl went out with a pitcher to find some water for her sick mother. She wandered and wandered everywhere, but could find no water, and she grew so tired that she lay down on the grass and fell asleep. When she awoke and took up the pitcher she nearly upset the water it contained. The pitcher was full of clear, fresh water. The little girl was glad and was about to put it to her lips, but she remembered her mother and ran home with the pitcher as fast as she could. She hurried so much that she did not notice a little dog in her ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Russia is living through an important time destined to have enormous results.
The proximity and inevitableness of the approaching change is, as indeed is always the case, especially keenly felt by those classes of
society who, by their position, are free from the necessity of physical labor absorbing all their time and power, and therefore have the possibility of occupying themselves with political questions. These men—the nobles, merchants, Government officials, doctors, engineers, professors, teachers, artists, students, advocates, chiefly townspeople, the so-called "intellectuals"—are now in Russia directing the movement which is taking place, and they devote all their powers to
the alteration of the existing political o... (From: Wikisource.org.)
The soul which had been destroyed was that in which Hajji Murad had spent the night before he went over to the Russians. Sado and his family had left the aoul on the approach of the Russian detachment, and when he returned he found his saklya in ruins -- the roof fallen in, the door and the posts supporting the penthouse burned, and the interior filthy. His son, the handsome bright-eyed boy who had gazed with such ecstasy at Hajji Murad, was brought dead to the mosque on a horse covered with a barka; he had been stabbed in the back with a bayonet. the dignified woman who had served Hajji Murad when he was at the house now stood over her son's body, her smock torn in front, her withered old breasts exposed, her hair down, and she dug her ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
The facts related in this Appeal,[2] composed by three
of my friends, have been repeatedly verified, revised,
and sifted; the Appeal itself has been several times recast and corrected; everything has been rejected from
it which, although true, might seem an exaggeration; so
that all that is now stated in this Appeal is the real,
indubitable truth, as far as the truth is accessible to men
guided only by the religious desire, in this revelation of
the truth, to serve God and their neighbor, both the
oppressors and the oppressed. But, however striking
the facts here related, their importance is determined,
not by the facts themselves, but by the way in which
they will be regarded by those who learn about them.
And I fea... (From: Wikisource.org.)
I am writing a history of yesterday not because yesterday was extraordinary in any way, for it might rather be called ordinary, but because I have long wished to trace the intimate side of life through an entire day. Only God knows how many diverse and diverting impressions, together with the thoughts awakened by them, occur in a single day. Obscure and confused they may be, but they are nevertheless comprehensible to our minds. If it were possible for me to recount them all so that I myself could read the tale with ease and so that others might read it as I do, a most instructive and amusing book would result; nor would there be ink enough in the world to write it, or typesetters to put it in print. But to get on with the story.
I a... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
An elder sister came to visit her younger sister in the country. The elder was married to a tradesman in town, the younger to a peasant in the village. As the sisters sat over their tea talking, the elder began to boast of the advantages of town life: saying how comfortably they lived there, how well they dressed, what fine clothes her children wore, what good things they ate and drank, and how she went to the theater, promenades, and entertainments.
The younger sister was piqued, and in turn disparaged the life of a tradesman, and stood up for that of a peasant.
'I would not change my way of life for yours,' said she. 'We may live roughly, but at least we are free from anxiety. You live in better style than we do, but though you often ea... (From: Wikisource.org.)
A poor peasant went out to plow his field one
morning, before breakfast, taking with him a crust
of bread. He tipped the plow over took out the
bar, and laid it under a bush with the crust, and spread
his coat over all. Presently the peasant got hungry, and
the horse was tired. So he stuck the plow into the
ground, unharnessed the horse and let her loose to graze,
and went to the bush to have a bite and rest awhile. He
lifted the coat: the crust had gone! He looked and
looked, rummaged in the coat, shook it still no crust !
The peasant wondered. " That's strange," he said ; " 1
saw no one, yet someone must have taken the bread."
It was a little Devil who had taken the crust while the
peasant was plowing, and he now... (From: Wikisource.org.)
There is so much that is strange, improbable, unintelligible, and even contradictory in what professes to be Christ's teaching that people do not know how to understand it.
It is very differently understood by different people. Some say redemption is the all-important matter. Others say the all-important thing is grace, obtainable through the sacraments. Others, again, say that submission to the Church is what is really essential. But the Churches themselves disagree, and interpret the teaching variously. The Roman Catholic Church holds that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son; that the Pope is infallible, and that salvation is obtainable chiefly through works. The Lutheran Church does not accept this, and considers that fa... (From: Wikisource.org.)
A poor peasant set out early one morning to plow, taking with him for his breakfast a crust of bread. He got his plow ready, wrapped the bread in his coat, put it under a bush, and set to work. After a while, when his horse was tired and he was hungry, the peasant fixed the plow, let the horse loose to graze, and went to get his coat and his breakfast.
He lifted the coat, but the bread was gone! He looked and looked, turned the coat over, shook it out—but the bread was gone. The peasant could not make this out at all.
'That's strange,' thought he; 'I saw no one, but all the same some one has been here and has taken the bread!'
It was an imp who had stolen the bread while the peasant was plowing, and at that moment he was sitting be... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Our activity since the time of the last report has been as follows:
First, and foremost, our work has consisted in the establishment and carrying on of free eating-rooms.
The eating-rooms, which at the time of our last report numbered seventy-two, continued to multiply, and now, in four districts,[1] amount to one hundred and eighty-seven. This increase has proceeded, and still proceeds, in the following manner : from villages, contiguous to those in which we have established eating-rooms, either individual peasants or men selected with the starosta, come to us and petition us to open free dining-rooms for them.
One of us goes to that particular village from which the petitioners have come, and after making a tour ... (From: Archive.org.)
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An Algerian king named Bauakas wanted to find out whether or not it
was true, as he had been told, that in one of his cities lived a just judge
who could instantly discern the truth, and from whom no rogue was
ever able to conceal himself. Bauakas exchanged clothes with a
merchant and went on horseback to the city where the judge lived.
At the entrance to the city a cripple approached the king and begged
alms of him. Bauakas gave him money and was about to continue on
his way, but the cripple clung to his clothing.
"What do you wish?" asked the king. "Haven't I given you money?"
"You gave me alms," said the cripple, "now grant me one favor. Let
me ride with you as far as the city square, otherwise the horses and
ca... (From: Unfree.tr.)
- I don’t understand your stubbornness. Why do you need not to sleep and
"join the people", when you can peacefully ride tomorrow with your aunt
Vera directly to the pavilion. And you'll see everything. I told you Ber
promised me to guide you through. And you, as a maid of honor, have the
right.
That’s what prince Paul Golitsin, famous to the higher circles under his
nickname "Fop", told his twenty-three year old daughter Alexandra,
recognized for her nickname "Rina". This conversation took place on the
evening of May 17, 1896, in Moscow, on the eve of the national celebration
of the coronation. The matter was that Rina, beautiful, strong girl, with a
distinctive Golitsin’s profile, with a hooked nose ... (From: Archive.org.)
Higher and higher receded the sky, wider and wider spread the streak of dawn,
whiter grew the pallid silver of the dew, more lifeless the sickle of the moon,
and more vocal the forest. People began to get up, and in the owner's
stable-yard the sounds of snorting, the rustling of litter, and even the shrill
angry neighing of horses crowded together and at variance about something, grew
more and more frequent.
"Hold on! Plenty of time! Hungry?" said the old huntsman, quickly opening the
creaking gate. "Where are you going?" he shouted, threateningly raising his arm
at a mare that was pushing through the gate.
The keeper, Nester, wore a short Cossack coat with an ornamental leather
girdle, had a whip slung over his shoulder, ... (From: UPenn.edu.)
"Two days later I started for the assembly, having bid farewell to my wife in an excellent and tranquil state of mind. In the district there was always much to be done. It was a world and a life apart. During two days I spent ten hours at the sessions. The evening of the second day, on returning to my district lodgings, I found a letter from my wife, telling me of the children, of their uncle, of the servants, and, among other things, as if it were perfectly natural, that Troukhatchevsky had been at the house, and had brought her the promised scores. He had also proposed that they play again, but she had refused.
"For my part, I did not remember at all that he had promised any score. It had seemed to me on Sunday evening that he took a def... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Address to the Swedish Peace Congress in 1909, published in The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays (translated by Aylmer Maude)
Dear Brothers,
We have met here to fight against war. War, the thing for the sake of which all the nations of the earth - millions and millions of people - place at the uncontrolled disposal of a few men or sometimes only one man, not merely milliards of rubles, talers, francs or yen (representing a very large share of their labor), but also their very lives.
And now we, a score of private people gathered from the various ends of the earth, possessed of no special privileges and above all having no power over anyone, intend to fight - and as we wish to fight we also wish to conquer - this immense power not only o... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Here is what my will should be, approximately. (Unless I write another, this shall be held valid):
I ask that I be interred wherever I die, in the least expensive cemetery, if it is in a town, and in the simplest sort of coffin, like the coffin of a pauper. No flowers, no wreaths, no speeches. If possible, no clergy or mass. Nevertheless, if this should be disagreeable to those in charge of my obsequies, let there be the ordinary burial ceremony, but let it be the least expensive and the simplest possible.
My obituary is not to be published in the newspapers.
All my papers are to be given for revision to my wife, assisted by V. G. Chertkov and my daughters, Tatiana and Marie. (Erasures have been made by me. My... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
One of the most obtuse superstitions is the superstition of educated people is that a human can exist without faith.
True religion is the establishment of a relationship between man and the infinite life that surrounds him, and which binds his life to this infinity and guides his actions.
If you feel that you have no faith, you must understand that you are in the most dangerous position in the world, in which only man can find himself.
People can, and do, live the rational and harmonious life natural to man only when they are united by their understanding of the meaning of life; in other words by a shared understanding of the meaning of life that satisfies the majority of people equally, and in the guidance for conduct that follows from ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Written to Tcherktoff, a personal friend and later translator of Tolstoy.
I thank you very much for sending me your biography of Garrison.
Reading it, I lived again through the spring of my awakening to true life. While reading Garrison's speeches and articles, I vividly recalled to mind the spiritual joy which I experienced twenty years ago, when I found out that the law of nonresistance - to which I have been inevitably brought by the recognition of the Christian teaching in its fullest meaning, and which revealed to me the great joyous ideal to be realized in Christian life - was even as far back as the forties not only recognized and proclaimed by Garrison (about Ballou I learned later), but also placed by him at the foundation of... (From: Wikisource.org.)
There has lately appeared in the papers information that in connection with Nobel's will the question has been discussed as to who should be chosen to receive the ₤10,000 bequeathed to the person who has best served the cause of peace. This has called forth certain considerations in me, and you will greatly oblige me by publishing them in your paper.
I think this point in Nobel's will concerning those who have best served the cause of peace is very difficult. Those who do indeed serve this cause do so because they serve God, and are therefore not in need of pecuniary recompense, and will not accept it. But I think the condition expressed in the will would be quite correctly fulfilled if the money were transmitted to the destitu... (From: Wikisource.org.)
I
Dear Sir,
I received your books and have read them with great interest, especially the "Papers from a Viceroy's Yamen."
The life of the Chinese people has always interested me in the
highest degree, and I have endeavored to become acquainted with
what was accessible in the life of the Chinese, especially with the
Chinese wisdom, the books of Confucius, Mentze, Laotze, and
commentaries upon them. I have also read about Chinese
Buddhism and books by Europeans upon China. Latterly,
moreover since those atrocities which have been perpetrated upon
the Chinese by Europeans — among the others and to a great
extent by Russians — the general disposition of the Chinese people
has interested and does yet interest me... (From: Wikisource.org.)
