--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The question was summed up for him thus…" description: "\"“The question was summed up for him thus: \"If I do not accept the answers Christianity gives to the problems of my life, what answers do I accept?”\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/leo-tolstoy-55_christianity_the-question-was-summed-up-for-him-thus_2247982.png" --- # The question was summed up for him thus: "If I do not… ![“The question was summed up for him thus: "If I do not accept the answers Christianity gives to the problems of my life, what answers do I accept?” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/leo-tolstoy-55_christianity_the-question-was-summed-up-for-him-thus_2247982.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/leo-tolstoy-55_christianity_the-question-was-summed-up-for-him-thus_2247982.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/leo-tolstoy-55_christianity_the-question-was-summed-up-for-him-thus_2247982.png) > ““The question was summed up for him thus: "If I do not accept the answers Christianity gives to the problems of my life, what answers do I accept?”” [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. Questioning faith forces one to confront the source of personal meaning and moral guidance. **In simple terms:** If you reject Christianity, you must find another belief system. Key Takeaway Identify what you truly believe in. Themes faith existentialism morality Mood introspective serious Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - personal crisis - ethical decision making - religious doubt Key Concepts spirituality search for meaning Questions to Reflect On - What values guide you when religion is set aside? - How do you evaluate new belief systems? A Different Perspective Alternative philosophies may not provide clear answers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accept Answers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accept-answers-437716/) [Answers Accept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answers-accept-752345/) [Answers Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answers-christianity-5123463/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Christianity Gives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity-gives-2914972/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Question Summed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-summed-5123464/) ## Related quotes > [Presenting both sides of Christianity gives the skeptic room to breathe - and to consider the possibility that there's room in Christianity for diversity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-m-miller/presenting-both-sides-of-christianity-gives-the-skeptic-room-to/) [Stephen M. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-m-miller/) > [The Freedom which Christianity gives, is a Freedom from the Bondage of Sin and Satan, and from the Domination of Men's Lusts and Passions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-gibson/the-freedom-which-christianity-gives-is-a-freedom-from-the-bondage-of/) [Edmund Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-gibson/) > [God does answer prayers, you just have to be willing to listen and accept the answers given.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-does-answer-prayers-you-just-have-to-be-willing-to-listen-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Keep on asking the questions and learn to accept the answers, even if they are not the same as what you would have loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/keep-on-asking-the-questions-and-learn-to-accept-the-answers-even-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People like to accept answers that align with their own suspicions. They like answers that they don’t have to really consider before accepting, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-c-mock/people-like-to-accept-answers-that-align-with-their-own-suspicions/) [Elizabeth C. Mock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-c-mock/) > [“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/the-reason-i-talk-to-myself-is-because-i-m-the-only-one-whose-answers/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/the-reason-i-talk-to-myself-is-that-i-m-the-only-one-whose-answers-i/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“Neither life has any questions nor it has any answers. Accept it, as the way it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-b-eudaimonia/neither-life-has-any-questions-nor-it-has-any-answers-accept-it-as/) [V B Eudaimonia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-b-eudaimonia/) > [The reason I talk to myself is because Im the only one whose answers I accept.à](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-reason-i-talk-to-myself-is-because-im-the-only-one-whose-answers/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Why do Christians sing when they are together? 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He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) ## 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. 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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 Christianity quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“God hates Hell. 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