--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How interesting it would be to write the…" description: "\"How interesting it would be to write the story of the experiences in this life of a man who killed himself in his previous life; how he stumbles agains..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/leo-tolstoy-55_deeds_how-interesting-it-would-be-to-write-the_2413207.jpg" --- # How interesting it would be to write the story of the… ![“How interesting it would be to write the story of the experiences in this life of a man who killed himself in his previous life; how he stumbles against the very demands which had offered themselves before, until he arrives at the realization that he must fulfill those demands. The deeds of the…” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/leo-tolstoy-55_deeds_how-interesting-it-would-be-to-write-the_2413207.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/leo-tolstoy-55_deeds_how-interesting-it-would-be-to-write-the_2413207.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/leo-tolstoy-55_deeds_how-interesting-it-would-be-to-write-the_2413207.jpg) > “How interesting it would be to write the story of the experiences in this life of a man who killed himself in his previous life; how he stumbles against the very demands which had offered themselves before, until he arrives at the realization that he must fulfill those demands. The deeds of the preceding life give direction to the present life.” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Past actions shape present purpose; confronting past selves guides current obligations. **In simple terms:** Past deeds guide present life. Key Takeaway Reflect on past to fulfill present duties. Themes purpose self‑reflection redemption Mood introspective somber Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career choices - personal growth - moral decisions Key Concepts determinism existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What past experience informs your current path? - Can you release past burdens while honoring lessons? A Different Perspective Focusing on the past may trap one in regret. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Present life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-life/) [Previous life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/previous-life/) [Realization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realization/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [This life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-life/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Not in order to justify, but simply in order to explain my lack of consistency, I say: Look at my present life and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/not-in-order-to-justify-but-simply-in-order-to-explain-my-lack-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [As we live through thousands of dreams in our present life, so is our present life only one of many thousands of such lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/as-we-live-through-thousands-of-dreams-in-our-present-life-so-is-our/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“While all murders are tragic, not all murders are interesting to write about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-mcmaster/while-all-murders-are-tragic-not-all-murders-are-interesting-to-write/) Kathryn McMaster > [I like when people question if the characters are really villains or protagonists. These types are very interesting to write about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-higgins/i-like-when-people-question-if-the-characters-are-really-villains-or/) [Jack Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-higgins/) > [I think virgins are far more interesting to write about. If we've been around the block a few times, we know what to expect.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james-2/i-think-virgins-are-far-more-interesting-to-write-about-if-we-ve-been/) [E. L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james-2/) > [It's interesting when you write something for somebody else, and then you're like, 'Oh man, I just laid my whole trip on them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lp/it-s-interesting-when-you-write-something-for-somebody-else-and-then/) LP > [I don't know that happy people are interesting to write about - or to read about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-don-t-know-that-happy-people-are-interesting-to-write-about-or-to/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [There's actually nothing interesting about me except what I write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-barrett/there-s-actually-nothing-interesting-about-me-except-what-i-write/) [Andrea Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-barrett/) > [I enjoy writing about people falling in love, probably because I think the first time you fall in love is the first time that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-enjoy-writing-about-people-falling-in-love-probably-because-i-think/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think that it is very interesting to write about a team because a team is a group of people who work in very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/i-think-that-it-is-very-interesting-to-write-about-a-team-because-a/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [It was interesting to write ad films and scripts for TV shows before I moved on to writing a feature film. That helped me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farhan-akhtar/it-was-interesting-to-write-ad-films-and-scripts-for-tv-shows-before/) [Farhan Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farhan-akhtar/) > [I think I have sort of gravitated toward issues that I don't know the answers to, because that's what's more interesting for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-think-i-have-sort-of-gravitated-toward-issues-that-i-don-t-know-the/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [I think shrinks are interesting to write about because you get to see what the character chooses to reveal, and what behaviors or stances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-davis/i-think-shrinks-are-interesting-to-write-about-because-you-get-to-see/) [Jill Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-davis/) > [Why wouldn't you write to escape yourself as much as you might write to express yourself? It's far more interesting to write about others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-wouldn-t-you-write-to-escape-yourself-as-much-as-you-might-write/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [It's not knowing how to write that makes you interesting, it's what you write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/it-s-not-knowing-how-to-write-that-makes-you-interesting-it-s-what/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Deeds quotes > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [Time often serves to justify a deed which seems at first unjustifiable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-p-ryan/time-often-serves-to-justify-a-deed-which-seems-at-first-unjustifiable/) Donald P. Ryan > [When deeds speak, words are nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/when-deeds-speak-words-are-nothing/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) > [Somehow, what's in our hearts, good or bad is eventually translated into words and deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/somehow-what-s-in-our-hearts-good-or-bad-is-eventually-translated/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [Honest people don't hide their deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/honest-people-don-t-hide-their-deeds/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Mechanical instruments, potentially a vehicle of rational human purposes, are scarcely a blessing when they enable the gossip of the village idiot and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/mechanical-instruments-potentially-a-vehicle-of-rational-human/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [Tis e'er the wont of simple folk to prize the deed and o'erlook the motive, and of learned folk to discount the deed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/tis-e-er-the-wont-of-simple-folk-to-prize-the-deed-and-o-erlook-the/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/how-oft-the-sight-of-means-to-do-ill-deeds-makes-ill-deeds-done/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A nation of character is filled with citizens who gradually build lives based on the living awareness that their deeds are judged by eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-keyes/a-nation-of-character-is-filled-with-citizens-who-gradually-build/) [Alan Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-keyes/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [I rejoice that the reign of Christ is such, while it thrills the soul with emotions, and opens before the highest intellect the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-simpson/i-rejoice-that-the-reign-of-christ-is-such-while-it-thrills-the-soul/) [Matthew Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-simpson/) > [The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-oswald-sanders/the-final-estimate-of-men-shows-that-history-cares-not-an-iota-for/) [J. Oswald Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-oswald-sanders/) > [The World's a Printing-House, our words, our thoughts, Our deeds, are characters of several sizes. Each soul is a Compos'tor, of whose faults The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/the-world-s-a-printing-house-our-words-our-thoughts-our-deeds-are/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) [Browse all 2,029 Deeds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How interesting it would be to write the story of the experiences in this life of a man who killed himself in his previous life; how he stumbles against the very demands which had offered themselves before, until he arrives at the realization that he must fulfill those demands. 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