“I often think that men don't understand what is noble and what is ignorant, though they always talk about it.”

—  Leo Tolstoy , book Anna Karenina

Source: Anna Karenina

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I often think that men don't understand what is noble and what is ignorant, though they always talk about it." by Leo Tolstoy?
Leo Tolstoy photo
Leo Tolstoy 456
Russian writer 1828–1910

Related quotes

Haruki Murakami photo

“I'm often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Phil Brown (footballer) photo

“I don't know what Murdo's talking about.”

Phil Brown (footballer) (1959) English association football player and manager

5-Nov-2005, Radio Derby
Phil responds to the director of football's desire to get more involved.

Cesare Lombroso photo

“The ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand.”

Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909) Italian criminologist

Pt. III, ch. 3.
The Man of Genius (1891)

Oscar Wilde photo

“Oh! I don't think I would like to catch a sensible man. I shouldn't know what to talk to him about.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

Source: The Importance of Being Earnest

Jean Webster photo

“Half of the time I don't know what they're talking about; their jokes seem to relate to a past that everyone but me has shared. I'm a foreigner in the world and I don't understand the language.”

Jean Webster (1876–1916) American novelist
Christine O'Donnell photo

“Christine O'Donnell: Well, don't you think as a host, if I say "this is what I want to talk about", that's what we should address?
Piers Morgan: Not really, no. You're a politician.”

Christine O'Donnell (1969) American Tea Party politician and former Republican Party candidate

Piers Morgan Tonight
CNN
Television, quoted in * Christine O’Donnell storms out of Piers Morgan interview over ‘rude’ treatment
2011-08-18
Steven
Nelson
Daily Caller
http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/18/christine-odonnell-storms-out-of-piers-morgan-interview-over-rude-treatment/
2011-10-15
TV appearances

Lady Gaga photo

“I don't care what people think about me, I care what they think about themselves.”

Lady Gaga (1986) American singer, songwriter, and actress

FUSE Lady Gaga: On The Record (Part 1) HQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiYM-OzG6yw

“And then [after the break with Clem [Greenberg], c. 1955] I investigated something which is related to what I talked about in 'Number 14', [of Jackson] Pollock, a side of me that --.... Well, I always use this word and I'm always dissatisfied with it because it's not what I mean at all, but a 'surreal' side. There are two words that are applied to me often that I think are very wrong but there aren't any other words that I can think of at the moment that would --. But one is 'lyrical' and the other is 'surreal'.... I understand what's meant when that word [lyrical] is used in relation to my pictures. And I don't think 'lyric' is a put down but 'lyric' never implies the profound enough.... In other words, 'lyric' can imply light, untouched, angelic, witty. Which are marvelous qualities. But 'light' can also imply simple, which is not a marvelous quality. I don't know..”

Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) American artist

quote about 'surreal' / 'lyrical', after 1955
1960s, Interview with Barbara Rose', Archives - American Art, 1968

Paul Watson photo

“I think the problem is that we don't really understand what we are.”

Paul Watson (1950) Canadian environmental activist

"Sharkwater" documentary
Context: I think the problem is that we don't really understand what we are. In essence we're just a conceited, naked ape. But in our minds we're some sort of "divine legend", and we see ourselves as some sort of god. That we can walk around the earth deciding who will live and who will die and what will be destroyed and what will be saved. But the fact is we're just a bunch of primates out of control.

Halldór Laxness photo

“I don't know how to lie. But I don't know what truth is, either. I always try to speak the way I think will cause least trouble to God and men.”

Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) Icelandic author

Ólafur talking to Vegmey
Heimsljós (World Light) (1940), Book Two: The Palace of the Summerland

Related topics