History Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

History would be an excellent thing if only it were true.

— Leo Tolstoy

Happy people have no history.

— Leo Tolstoy

Kings are the slaves of history.

— Leo Tolstoy

“In the legal respect, after the execution of the supposed incendiaries, the other half of Moscow burned down.”

— Leo Tolstoy

If every man could act as he chose, the whole of history would be a tissue of disconnected accidents.

— Leo Tolstoy

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

— Leo Tolstoy

The subject of history is the life of peoples and mankind.

— Leo Tolstoy

History is the product of vast, amorphous and indecipherable social movements.

— Leo Tolstoy

History would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true.

— Leo Tolstoy

“War is the most painful act of subjection to the laws of God that can be required of the human will.”

— Leo Tolstoy

All the true heroes of history will be forgotten and all the villains will be remembered as heroes.

— Leo Tolstoy

Man's mind cannot grasp the causes of events in their completeness, but the desire to find the causes is implanted in man's…

— Leo Tolstoy

“In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Every monarch in the world, except the Emperor of China, wears a military uniform, and bestows the greatest rewards on the man…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Man lives consciously for himself but unconsciously he serves as an instrument for the accomplishment of historical and social ends.”

— Leo Tolstoy

“The more we try to explain sensibily these phenomena of history, the more senseless and incomphrensible they become for us.”

— Leo Tolstoy

This history of culture will explain to us the motives, the conditions of life, and the thought of the writer or reformer.

— Leo Tolstoy

History, that is to say, the unconscious, universal life of humanity, in the aggregate, every moment profits by the life of kings…

— Leo Tolstoy

In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of…

— Leo Tolstoy

When it is impossible to stretch the very elastic threads of historical ratiocination any farther, when actions are clearly contrary to all…

— Leo Tolstoy

“But all these hints at foreseeing what actually did happen on the French as well as on the Russian side are only…

— Leo Tolstoy

Each man lives for himself, uses his freedom to achieve his personal goals, and feels with his whole being that right now…

— Leo Tolstoy

In historic events, the so-called great men are labels giving names to events, and like labels they have but the smallest connection…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Only by assuming an infinitesimally small unit for observation - a differential of history (that is, the common tendencies of men) -…

— Leo Tolstoy

“There are two sides to the life of every man: there is his individual existence which is free in proportion as his…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Chance created the situation; genius utilized it,” says history. But what is chance? What is genius? The words chance and genius do…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Only by taking infinitesimally small units for observation (the differential of history, that is, the individual tendencies of men) and attaining to…

— Leo Tolstoy

“In a clock the complex action of countless different wheels works its way out in the even, leisurely movement of hands measuring…

— Leo Tolstoy

“[from Some words about 'War and Peace' ] In those days also people loved, envied, sought truth and virtue, and where carried…

— Leo Tolstoy

“[from Some words about 'War and Peace' ] For a historian considering the achievement of a certain aim, there are heroes; for…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Consciously a man lives on his own account in freedom of willbut he serves as an unconscious instrument in bringing about the…

— Leo Tolstoy

“MAN’S MIND cannot grasp the causes of events in their completeness, but the desire to find those causes is implanted in man’s…

— Leo Tolstoy

“The highest wisdom is founded not on reason only, not on those worldly sciences, of physics, history, chemistry, etc., into which knowledge…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Just as in a clock, the result of the complicated motion of innumerable wheels and pulleys is merely a slow and regular…

— Leo Tolstoy

“In historical events great men - so-called - are but labels serving to give a name to the event, and like labels…

— Leo Tolstoy

The subject of history is the life of peoples and of humanity. To catch and pin down in words--that is, to describe…

— Leo Tolstoy

“History – the amorphous, unconscious life within the swarm of humanity – exploits every minute in the lives of kings as an…

— Leo Tolstoy

“Fatalism in history is inevitable for the explanation of senseless phenomena (that is, those whose sense we do not understand).”

— Leo Tolstoy

The epitaph that I would write for history would say: I conceal nothing. It is not enough not to lie. One should…

— Leo Tolstoy

What is the cause of historical events? Power. What is power? Power is the sum total of wills transferred to one person.…

— Leo Tolstoy