--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is tantamount to saying, \"My hand is…" description: "\"“This is tantamount to saying, \"My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight line,—that is, a line which will be the shortest line between two given point..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png" --- # This is tantamount to saying, "My hand is weak. I cannot… ![“This is tantamount to saying, "My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight line,—that is, a line which will be the shortest line between two given points,—and so, in order to make it more easy for myself, I, intending to draw a straight, will choose for my model a crooked line." The weaker my hand…” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png) > ““This is tantamount to saying, "My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight line,—that is, a line which will be the shortest line between two given points,—and so, in order to make it more easy for myself, I, intending to draw a straight, will choose for my model a crooked line." The weaker my hand, the greater the need that my model should be perfect.”” [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. The author argues that physical limitations can drive a desire for perfection in one's work, using a crooked line as a metaphor for compromise. **In simple terms:** Weakness pushes pursuit of perfection. Key Takeaway Recognize limits, aim for excellence. Themes perfectionism limitations creativity Mood analytical inspired Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - writing - design - engineering Key Concepts artistic integrity self‑improvement Questions to Reflect On - What compromises are acceptable in your work? - How do you balance realism with idealism? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can become obsessive and hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Draw Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draw-straight-1689553/) [Intending Draw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intending-draw-3569375/) [Line Weaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/line-weaker-3569377/) [Straight line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straight-line/) [Weak Draw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weak-draw-3569374/) [Weaker Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weaker-hand-3569376/) ## Related quotes > [Draw a straight line and follow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-monte-young/draw-a-straight-line-and-follow-it/) [La Monte Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-monte-young/) > [Did you know? That the ruler was invented by an artist, because the hardest thing to draw is a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sdothawkins/did-you-know-that-the-ruler-was-invented-by-an-artist-because-the/) [SdotHawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sdothawkins/) > [I can't draw a straight line to save my life. I just can't draw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-courtney/i-can-t-draw-a-straight-line-to-save-my-life-i-just-can-t-draw/) [Joel Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-courtney/) > [“Understand this clearly: you can teach a man to draw a straight line, and to carve it; and to copy and carve any number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/understand-this-clearly-you-can-teach-a-man-to-draw-a-straight-line/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [I can't draw a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-blue/i-can-t-draw-a-straight-line/) [Josh Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-blue/) > [I was always shouted at by my teacher because I would draw straight on the table in the school,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-louboutin/i-was-always-shouted-at-by-my-teacher-because-i-would-draw-straight/) [Christian Louboutin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-louboutin/) > [I like science and I love gym. Oh, and I like art, but I'm really bad at it. I'm just a terrible drawer. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-radcliffe/i-like-science-and-i-love-gym-oh-and-i-like-art-but-i-m-really-bad-at/) [Daniel Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-radcliffe/) > [A circle is a round straight line with a hole in the middle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-circle-is-a-round-straight-line-with-a-hole-in-the-middle/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“A line only gets grace when it curves, you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/a-line-only-gets-grace-when-it-curves-you-know/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“A body needs at least three points of support, not in a straight line, to fix its position, so Roithamer had written.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/a-body-needs-at-least-three-points-of-support-not-in-a-straight-line/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“Do More. Be More. You were made for more! Take all the chances and leaps. Every single step of the journey is a maze…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinonye-j-chidolue/do-more-be-more-you-were-made-for-more-take-all-the-chances-and-leaps/) [Chinonye J. Chidolue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinonye-j-chidolue/) > [In philosophy, as in politics, the longest distance between two points is a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/in-philosophy-as-in-politics-the-longest-distance-between-two-points/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“I'd watch his smooth chest rise and fall with each steady breath, I'd watch the pulsating of his stomach when he laughed, and I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-newell/i-d-watch-his-smooth-chest-rise-and-fall-with-each-steady-breath-i-d/) [Ashley Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-newell/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [“he could yet make a case for a straight line from Nixon to Trump.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/he-could-yet-make-a-case-for-a-straight-line-from-nixon-to-trump/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) ## 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 Straight line quotes > [“he could yet make a case for a straight line from Nixon to Trump.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/he-could-yet-make-a-case-for-a-straight-line-from-nixon-to-trump/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [“I'd watch his smooth chest rise and fall with each steady breath, I'd watch the pulsating of his stomach when he laughed, and I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-newell/i-d-watch-his-smooth-chest-rise-and-fall-with-each-steady-breath-i-d/) [Ashley Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-newell/) > [In philosophy, as in politics, the longest distance between two points is a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/in-philosophy-as-in-politics-the-longest-distance-between-two-points/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“Do More. Be More. You were made for more! Take all the chances and leaps. Every single step of the journey is a maze…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinonye-j-chidolue/do-more-be-more-you-were-made-for-more-take-all-the-chances-and-leaps/) [Chinonye J. Chidolue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinonye-j-chidolue/) > [“A body needs at least three points of support, not in a straight line, to fix its position, so Roithamer had written.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/a-body-needs-at-least-three-points-of-support-not-in-a-straight-line/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“A line only gets grace when it curves, you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/a-line-only-gets-grace-when-it-curves-you-know/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [A circle is a round straight line with a hole in the middle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-circle-is-a-round-straight-line-with-a-hole-in-the-middle/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Finally, every society develops a system of aesthetic standards that get manifested in everything from decorative art, music, and dance to the architecture and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livermore/finally-every-society-develops-a-system-of-aesthetic-standards-that/) [David Livermore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livermore/) > [The song of the curved line is called happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-crevel/the-song-of-the-curved-line-is-called-happiness/) [Rene Crevel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-crevel/) > [I see that the path of progress has never taken a straight line, but has always been a zigzag course amid the conflicting forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-miller/i-see-that-the-path-of-progress-has-never-taken-a-straight-line-but/) [Kelly Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-miller/) > [The straight line, a respectable optical illusion which ruins many a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-straight-line-a-respectable-optical-illusion-which-ruins-many-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Chapter One: The world is flat. I know it is, because for the last five hours the view has been exactly the same. Only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-p-dahlke/chapter-one-the-world-is-flat-i-know-it-is-because-for-the-last-five/) [R.P. Dahlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-p-dahlke/) > [There's no straight line between closing the mental institutions and filling the prisons but there is some sort of relationship. And it's hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-moskos/there-s-no-straight-line-between-closing-the-mental-institutions-and/) [Peter Moskos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-moskos/) > [“Lila walked by with her nose in the air. In a straight line behind her, six obedient kindergartners waddled like baby geese, singing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-pascal/lila-walked-by-with-her-nose-in-the-air-in-a-straight-line-behind-her/) [Francine Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-pascal/) [Browse all 531 Straight line quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straight-line/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This is tantamount to saying, \"My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight line,—that is, a line which will be the shortest line between two given points,—and so, in order to make it more easy for myself, I, intending to draw a straight, will choose for my model a crooked line.\" The weaker my hand, the greater the need that my model should be perfect.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is-weak-i-cannot-draw-a-straight/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Straight line" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is-weak-i-cannot-draw-a-straight/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/leo-tolstoy-55_straight-line_this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is_1196112.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is tantamount to saying, \"My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight line,—that is, a line which will be…” — 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": "“This is tantamount to saying, \"My...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is-weak-i-cannot-draw-a-straight/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/this-is-tantamount-to-saying-my-hand-is-weak-i-cannot-draw-a-straight/#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 } } ] } ```