--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no greatness where there is no…" description: "\"There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.\" — Leo Tolstoy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png" --- # There is no greatness where there is no simplicity… ![“There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png) > “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” [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. True greatness emerges when simplicity, moral goodness, and truth guide actions. **In simple terms:** Greatness needs simplicity, goodness, truth. Key Takeaway Cultivate honesty, kindness, and clarity. Themes virtue truth humility leadership Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership training - community service - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts ethics character development moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What simple truths can you embody today? - How does honesty shape your influence? A Different Perspective Simplicity may be undervalued in complex societies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Simplicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simplicity/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“There is no greatness where simplicity, goodness and truth are absent”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/there-is-no-greatness-where-simplicity-goodness-and-truth-are-absent/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [For us, with the rule of right and wrong given us by Christ, there is nothing for which we have no standard. And there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/for-us-with-the-rule-of-right-and-wrong-given-us-by-christ-there-is/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [There is goodness as well as greatness in simplicity, not in wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-goodness-as-well-as-greatness-in-simplicity-not-in-wealth/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Never to the end of his life could he understand goodness, beauty, or truth, or the significance of his actions which were too contrary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/never-to-the-end-of-his-life-could-he-understand-goodness-beauty-or/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [God who is goodness and truth is also beauty. It is this innate human and divine longing, found in the company of goodness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberta-bondi/god-who-is-goodness-and-truth-is-also-beauty-it-is-this-innate-human/) [Roberta Bondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberta-bondi/) > [The capacity to accept suffering for the sake of goodness, truth and justice is an essential criterion of humanity, because if my own well-being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-capacity-to-accept-suffering-for-the-sake-of-goodness-truth-and/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [“It is not enough for a Christian to condemn evil, cowardice, lies, and use of force, hatred, and oppression. He must at all times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerzy-popie-uszko/it-is-not-enough-for-a-christian-to-condemn-evil-cowardice-lies-and/) Jerzy Popiełuszko > [“Look after goodness and truth, beauty will look after herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/look-after-goodness-and-truth-beauty-will-look-after-herself/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [I keep working because I am quite sure that no particle of goodness or truth is ever really lost, however appearances may be to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/i-keep-working-because-i-am-quite-sure-that-no-particle-of-goodness/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Goodness, Truth and Beauty come first](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/goodness-truth-and-beauty-come-first/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [If you look after goodness and truth, beauty will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-look-after-goodness-and-truth-beauty-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of His goodness and of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/ought-we-not-to-look-upon-our-own-history-as-being-at-least-as-full/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) > [“In Christian tradition, beauty, goodness, and truth are known as “transcendentals,” linked to the three core human abilities to feel, to wish, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/in-christian-tradition-beauty-goodness-and-truth-are-known-as/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I have been asked many times, Why do you laugh so much and make so many jokes? I become serious sometimes-when I have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/i-have-been-asked-many-times-why-do-you-laugh-so-much-and-make-so/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [That which you create in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come. Don't spend your life accumulating material objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/that-which-you-create-in-beauty-and-goodness-and-truth-lives-on-for/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) ## 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 Goodness quotes > [This is a proof of a well-trained mind, to rejoice in what is good and to grieve at the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/this-is-a-proof-of-a-well-trained-mind-to-rejoice-in-what-is-good-and/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) Daniel K Judd > [Love reacts with goodness towards those who ill-treat it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-begg/love-reacts-with-goodness-towards-those-who-ill-treat-it/) [Alistair Begg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-begg/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [One may not doubt that, somehow Good Shall come of Water and of Mud; And sure, the reverent eye must see A purpose in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/one-may-not-doubt-that-somehow-good-shall-come-of-water-and-of-mud/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) > [I've never had any desire to be good. I don't like goodness particularly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-ve-never-had-any-desire-to-be-good-i-don-t-like-goodness/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [the path of goodness had a name it is called Love in it we find the key to every hope and has it's root…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-path-of-goodness-had-a-name-it-is-called-love-in-it-we-find-the/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [The family remains the basic unit of society and the first school in which children learn the human, spiritual and moral values which enable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-family-remains-the-basic-unit-of-society-and-the-first-school-in/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [To make one good action succeed another, is the perfection of goodness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-ibn-abi-talib/to-make-one-good-action-succeed-another-is-the-perfection-of-goodness/) [Ali ibn Abi Talib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-ibn-abi-talib/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [A good man therefore is a standing lesson to us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-good-man-therefore-is-a-standing-lesson-to-us-all/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [And if thy heart be straight with God then every creature shall be to thee a mirror of life and a book of holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/and-if-thy-heart-be-straight-with-god-then-every-creature-shall-be-to/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [“Sometimes resilience arrives in the moment you discover your own unshakeable goodness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-boyle/sometimes-resilience-arrives-in-the-moment-you-discover-your-own/) [Gregory Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-boyle/) > [What is sin? It is the glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/what-is-sin-it-is-the-glory-of-god-not-honored-the-holiness-of-god/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) [Browse all 3,129 Goodness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no-simplicity-goodness-and-truth/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Goodness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no-simplicity-goodness-and-truth/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/leo-tolstoy-55_goodness_there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no_221039.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” — 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": "There is no greatness where there...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no-simplicity-goodness-and-truth/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/there-is-no-greatness-where-there-is-no-simplicity-goodness-and-truth/#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 } } ] } ```