Quotes from book
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, published serially, then in its entirety in 1869. It is regarded as one of Tolstoy's finest literary achievements.The novel chronicles the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the stories of five Russian aristocratic families. Portions of an earlier version, titled The Year 1805, were serialized in The Russian Messenger from 1865 to 1867, then published in its entirety in 1869.Tolstoy said War and Peace is "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle." Large sections, especially the later chapters, are philosophical discussion rather than narrative. Tolstoy also said that the best Russian literature does not conform to standards and hence hesitated to call War and Peace a novel. Instead, he regarded Anna Karenina as his first true novel.
“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”
Source: War and Peace
Thoughts of Prince Andrew Bk XII, Ch. 16
War and Peace (1865–1867; 1869)
“Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait.”
Bk. X, ch. 16
War and Peace (1865–1867; 1869)
“Well, pray if you like, only you'd do better to use your judgment.”
Source: War and Peace
“Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult.”
Source: War and Peace
“Everything I know, I know because of love.”
Thoughts of Prince Andrew Bk XII, Ch. 16
Variant: All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.
Source: War and Peace (1865–1867; 1869)
Context: Love hinders death. Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.
“I often think how unfairly life's good fortune is sometimes distributed.”
Source: War and Peace
“When one's head is gone one doesn't weep over one's hair!”
Source: War and Peace
“A battle is won by him who is firmly resolved to win it.”
Source: War and Peace
“Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.”
Source: War and Peace
