Children Quote by Leo Tolstoy
““Peaceful with six children Darya Alexandrova could not be...Rare indeed were the brief periods of peace...hard though it was for the mother to bear the dread of illness, the illnesses themselves, and the grief of seeing signs of evil propensities in her children--the children themselves were even now repaying her in small joys for her sufferings. Those joys were so small that they passed unnoticed, like gold in sand, and at bad moments she could see nothing but the pain, nothing but sand; but there were good moments too when she saw nothing but the joy, nothing but gold. Now in the solitude of the country, she began to be more and more frequently aware of those joys. Often, looking at them, she would make every possible effort to persuade herself that she was mistaken, that she as a mother was partial to her children. All the same, she could not help saying to herself that she had charming children, all six of them in different ways, but a set of children such as is not often to be met with, and she was happy in them, and proud of them.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, 1877
Amid hardship, fleeting moments of joy provide solace and meaning, though they may be overlooked.
In simple terms: Small joys give comfort in suffering.
Notice and cherish tiny joys.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- parenting
- caregiving
- grief processing
- mental health coping
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What small joys have you missed lately?
- How can you create space to notice them?
Joy can be fleeting and may not resolve deeper pain.