--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I understood, not with my intellect but…" description: "\"I understood, not with my intellect but with my whole being, that no theories of the rationality of existence or of progress could justify such an act;..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/leo-tolstoy-55_creation_i-understood-not-with-my-intellect-but-w_1131163.png" --- # I understood, not with my intellect but with my whole… ![“I understood, not with my intellect but with my whole being, that no theories of the rationality of existence or of progress could justify such an act; I realized that even if all the people in the world from the day of creation found this to be necessary according to whatever theory, I knew that…” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/leo-tolstoy-55_creation_i-understood-not-with-my-intellect-but-w_1131163.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/leo-tolstoy-55_creation_i-understood-not-with-my-intellect-but-w_1131163.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/leo-tolstoy-55_creation_i-understood-not-with-my-intellect-but-w_1131163.png) > “I understood, not with my intellect but with my whole being, that no theories of the rationality of existence or of progress could justify such an act; I realized that even if all the people in the world from the day of creation found this to be necessary according to whatever theory, I knew that it was not necessary and that it was wrong. Therefore, my judgments must be based-on what is right and necessary and not on what people say and do; I must judge not according to progress but according to my own heart.” [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. Moral truth comes from inner conviction, not from external theories or societal pressure. **In simple terms:** Rightness is felt, not proved. Key Takeaway Follow your heart over popular opinion. Themes morality individualism integrity Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal decisions - social activism - leadership dilemmas - ethical debates Key Concepts existentialism ethical intuition Questions to Reflect On - What does your heart tell you about this issue? - How can you balance intuition with reason? A Different Perspective Relying solely on personal feeling can ignore objective facts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Rationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rationality/) [Righteousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/righteousness/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I realized that even if all the people in the world from the day of creation found this to be necessary according to whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-realized-that-even-if-all-the-people-in-the-world-from-the-day-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [It behooves us always to bear in mind, that while actions are always to be judged by the immutable standard of right and wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/it-behooves-us-always-to-bear-in-mind-that-while-actions-are-always/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [She has good instincts, but wrong judgments. She'll rue the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-selznick/she-has-good-instincts-but-wrong-judgments-she-ll-rue-the-day/) [David O. Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-selznick/) > [Any critic is entitled to wrong judgments, of course. But certain lapses of judgment indicate the radical failure of an entire sensibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/any-critic-is-entitled-to-wrong-judgments-of-course-but-certain/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Worldly knowledge (laukik gnan) is understood through the intellect (buddhi). Knowledge of that which is beyond the world (alaukik gnan) cannot be understood through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/worldly-knowledge-laukik-gnan-is-understood-through-the-intellect/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Vyavasthit (result of scientific circumstantial evidences) cannot be understood through the intellect, it can only be understood through Darshan (Vision as the Self). ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/vyavasthit-result-of-scientific-circumstantial-evidences-cannot-be/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [The more clearly a principle is understood by the intellect, the more inexcusable is the neglect to put it into practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-kardec/the-more-clearly-a-principle-is-understood-by-the-intellect-the-more/) [Allan Kardec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-kardec/) > [“We cannot gain an essential knowledge of man through any method that is based on externalization of man's inner being and the placing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seyyed-hossein-nasr/we-cannot-gain-an-essential-knowledge-of-man-through-any-method-that/) [Seyyed Hossein Nasr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seyyed-hossein-nasr/) > [ Were it not for this \[dissatisfaction\], the perfect painting might be painted, on the completion of which the painter could retire. It is this… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian-freud/were-it-not-for-this-dissatisfaction-the-perfect-painting-might-be/) [Lucian Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian-freud/) > [The process of creation becomes necessary to the painter perhaps more than is the picture. The process in fact is habit-forming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian-freud/the-process-of-creation-becomes-necessary-to-the-painter-perhaps-more/) [Lucian Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian-freud/) > [The providence of God is subordinate to creation; and it is, therefore, necessary that it should not impinge against creation, which it would do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacobus-arminius/the-providence-of-god-is-subordinate-to-creation-and-it-is-therefore/) [Jacobus Arminius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacobus-arminius/) > [With nature's help, humankind can set into creation all that is necessary and life sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hildegard-of-bingen/with-nature-s-help-humankind-can-set-into-creation-all-that-is/) [Hildegard of Bingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hildegard-of-bingen/) > [Well, pray if you like, only you'd do better to use your judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/well-pray-if-you-like-only-you-d-do-better-to-use-your-judgment/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I regard individuality as the most precious trait we have, because without it there is no creativity, there is no consciousness, there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-regard-individuality-as-the-most-precious-trait-we-have-because/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Truth is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-von-neumann/truth-is-much-too-complicated-to-allow-anything-but-approximations/) [John von Neumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-von-neumann/) ## 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 Creation quotes > [“am not suggesting that successes in academics, athletics, or vocation somehow stand outside God’s good plan. Learning and play are joys that God himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-paul-jones/am-not-suggesting-that-successes-in-academics-athletics-or-vocation/) [Timothy Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-paul-jones/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [I believe if there is a creator it will basically ask me two questions, how well did you enjoy my creation and what did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-believe-if-there-is-a-creator-it-will-basically-ask-me-two/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [With no other choices open to us, we'd turned our gaze seaward. The oceans were our America: they reached farther than any prairie, untamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carsten-jensen/with-no-other-choices-open-to-us-we-d-turned-our-gaze-seaward-the/) [Carsten Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carsten-jensen/) > [In the quiet moments of your day, what do you think and do? When you are with your Self and no one else, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/in-the-quiet-moments-of-your-day-what-do-you-think-and-do-when-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The creation lives as genesis beneath the visible surface of the work. All intelligent people see this after the fact, but only the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-creation-lives-as-genesis-beneath-the-visible-surface-of-the-work/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-are-trying-to-live-a-life-in-accordance-with-the-bible-the/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-think-that-storytelling-and-creation-are-very-close-to-what-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [To be part of the creation, I must act humbly. I'll take that over a goddess any day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-o-hara/to-be-part-of-the-creation-i-must-act-humbly-i-ll-take-that-over-a/) [Maureen O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-o-hara/) > [The country of Iraq is somewhat of an artificial creation going back to colonial days. And so you have the Kurds and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clapper/the-country-of-iraq-is-somewhat-of-an-artificial-creation-going-back/) [James Clapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clapper/) [Browse all 5,225 Creation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I understood, not with my intellect but with my whole being, that no theories of the rationality of existence or of progress could justify such an act; I realized that even if all the people in the world from the day of creation found this to be necessary according to whatever theory, I knew that it was not necessary and that it was wrong. 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