--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man must not check his reason by…" description: "\"Man must not check his reason by tradition, but, contrariwise, must check tradition by reason.\" — Leo Tolstoy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png" --- # Man must not check his reason by tradition, but… ![“Man must not check his reason by tradition, but, contrariwise, must check tradition by reason.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png) > “Man must not check his reason by tradition, but, contrariwise, must check tradition by reason.” [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. Reason should evaluate tradition, not the reverse; tradition must be justified by rational thought. **In simple terms:** Check tradition with reason, not reason with tradition. Key Takeaway Question traditions with logic. Themes reason tradition critical thinking Mood analytical curious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - legal reforms - cultural practices - educational curricula Key Concepts philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - What traditions have you examined critically? - When is tradition worth preserving despite irrationality? A Different Perspective Traditions may hold value beyond rational analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Check Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/check-tradition-1245369/) [Checks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/checks/) [Contrariwise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contrariwise-1245370/) [Humanist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanist/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-tradition-1245368/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [Tradition Contrariwise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition-contrariwise-1245366/) [Tradition Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition-reason-1245367/) ## Related quotes > [In the end, I always act from the heart, even if I also value reason and tradition. I wish I could explain why, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/in-the-end-i-always-act-from-the-heart-even-if-i-also-value-reason/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [Secure in whom we are, rooted in one particular tradition or none at all, we have no reason to fear discovering God in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-v-taylor/secure-in-whom-we-are-rooted-in-one-particular-tradition-or-none-at/) [Robert V. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-v-taylor/) > [“Scripture offers the unique access to the story of redemption and then, in turn, funds tradition, reason and experience, as God's Word is remembered,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-h-pinnock/scripture-offers-the-unique-access-to-the-story-of-redemption-and/) [Clark H. Pinnock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-h-pinnock/) > [“Reason, tradition, speculative conviction, dead orthodoxy, are a girdle of spider-webs. They give way at the first onset. Truth alone, as abiding in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hodge/reason-tradition-speculative-conviction-dead-orthodoxy-are-a-girdle/) [Charles Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hodge/) > [“Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/contrariwise-continued-tweedledee-if-it-was-so-it-might-be-and-if-it/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [“And contrariwise what it is it wouldn't be And what it wouldn't be it would You see?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinedown/and-contrariwise-what-it-is-it-wouldn-t-be-and-what-it-wouldn-t-be-it/) [Shinedown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinedown/) > [If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/if-i-had-a-world-of-my-own-everything-would-be-nonsense-nothing-would-2/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/contrariwise-if-it-was-so-it-might-be-and-if-it-were-so-it-would-be/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [As a citizen, hopefully I'm humanist. As an artist, I'm free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/as-a-citizen-hopefully-i-m-humanist-as-an-artist-i-m-free/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“Pilgrim of the heart, oneness in our vein - love is the revolution, Human is the name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-of-the-heart-oneness-in-our-vein-love-is-the-revolution-human/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The only difference between a Religious Humanist and a Secular Humanist is what they do on Sunday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-edwords/the-only-difference-between-a-religious-humanist-and-a-secular/) [Fred Edwords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-edwords/) > [“The same Sermon on the Mount that influenced Tolstoy to write “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, inspired me to a great extent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-same-sermon-on-the-mount-that-influenced-tolstoy-to-write-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Don't assume you understand Naskar, unless you've left your seat to the elderly on a bus, joined the religious festivities of a neighbor from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/don-t-assume-you-understand-naskar-unless-you-ve-left-your-seat-to/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [If a humanist or an atheist or an agnostic says, "We'll bake you a pie," we can go right into the kitchen and bake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/if-a-humanist-or-an-atheist-or-an-agnostic-says-we-ll-bake-you-a-pie/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [I'm a humanist at heart: at the end of the day, we are all human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chet-faker/i-m-a-humanist-at-heart-at-the-end-of-the-day-we-are-all-human-beings/) [Chet Faker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chet-faker/) ## 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 Checks quotes > [Check out the albums, ... Check out the live performances. That's the reality of it all. Music is such an energizing thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayall/check-out-the-albums-check-out-the-live-performances-that-s-the/) [John Mayall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayall/) > [ When the fountains of government \[borrowing\] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-flynn/when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowing-abundance-began-to-dry-up/) [John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [I gave birth to most of them MC's... So when it comes around to the month of May, Send me your royalty check for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-shante/i-gave-birth-to-most-of-them-mc-s-so-when-it-comes-around-to-the/) [Roxanne Shante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxanne-shante/) > [I pay these niggas with a reality check…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-pay-these-niggas-with-a-reality-check/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [Two things you need to know about taxes. They've extended the deadline to April 18, and when you write your check, just make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/two-things-you-need-to-know-about-taxes-they-ve-extended-the-deadline/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/it-s-a-constant-man-ego-check-going-on-in-the-streets-in-this-world/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [Well, a lot of our concerts do okay, and I know we still get royalty checks which still isn't that important, but again, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-johnston/well-a-lot-of-our-concerts-do-okay-and-i-know-we-still-get-royalty/) [Bruce Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-johnston/) > [The things of the world are ever rising and falling, and in perpetual change; and this change must be according to the will of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/the-things-of-the-world-are-ever-rising-and-falling-and-in-perpetual/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [If you find your feet dragging, check your path. You are probably on the wrong one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-toshio-sudo/if-you-find-your-feet-dragging-check-your-path-you-are-probably-on/) [Philip Toshio Sudo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-toshio-sudo/) > [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/) [Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/) > [I'm a little bit superstitious, and I think that just comes from playing hockey. I won't avoid the number thirteen. A big one for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-badge-dale/i-m-a-little-bit-superstitious-and-i-think-that-just-comes-from/) [James Badge Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-badge-dale/) > [A lot of independent films offer a harsh reality check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-plaza/a-lot-of-independent-films-offer-a-harsh-reality-check/) [Aubrey Plaza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-plaza/) > [Seeds have the power to preserve species, to enhance cultural as well as genetic diversity, to counter economic monopoly and to check the advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/seeds-have-the-power-to-preserve-species-to-enhance-cultural-as-well/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) [Browse all 1,697 Checks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/checks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man must not check his reason by tradition, but, contrariwise, must check tradition by reason.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-tradition-but-contrariwise-must/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Checks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-tradition-but-contrariwise-must/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/leo-tolstoy-55_checks_man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-traditi_1710798.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man must not check his reason by tradition, but, contrariwise, must check tradition by reason.” — Leo Tolstoy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Man must not check his reason...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-tradition-but-contrariwise-must/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/man-must-not-check-his-reason-by-tradition-but-contrariwise-must/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```