--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To know God and to live is the same…" description: "\"To know God and to live is the same thing. God is Life.\" — Leo Tolstoy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png" --- # To know God and to live is the same thing. God is Life. ![“To know God and to live is the same thing. God is Life.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png) > “To know God and to live is the same thing. God is Life.” [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. Understanding divinity is inseparable from living fully; the divine is the essence of life itself. **In simple terms:** God equals life and living fully. Key Takeaway Live as if each moment reflects the divine. Themes spirituality existence purpose Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal growth - daily mindfulness - ethical decisions - community service Key Concepts theology philosophy humanism Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing God as life change daily actions? - What practices embody this unity? A Different Perspective Interpretations may differ across religions and secular views. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Knowing god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-god/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“To know God and to live is one and the same thing. God is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-know-god-and-to-live-is-one-and-the-same-thing-god-is-life/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“What are these deaths and revivals? It is clear that I do not live whenever I lose my faith in the existence of God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/what-are-these-deaths-and-revivals-it-is-clear-that-i-do-not-live/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“As it was before, so it was now; I need only be aware of God to live; I need only forget Him, or disbelieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/as-it-was-before-so-it-was-now-i-need-only-be-aware-of-god-to-live-i/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [It is one of the great ironies of human history that some mortals with incorrect understanding of God and life's purposes sometimes scold God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/it-is-one-of-the-great-ironies-of-human-history-that-some-mortals/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/once-you-become-aware-that-the-main-business-that-you-are-here-for-is/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It is terrible when people do not know God, but it is worse when people identify as God what is not God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-is-terrible-when-people-do-not-know-god-but-it-is-worse-when/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“God is life. God is life in action. The best way to say, “I love you, God,” is to live your life doing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ruiz/god-is-life-god-is-life-in-action-the-best-way-to-say-i-love-you-god-2/) [Miguel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ruiz/) > [What a relief to be empty! Then God can live your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/what-a-relief-to-be-empty-then-god-can-live-your-life/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-want-to-know-how-god-created-this-world-i-am-not-interested-in-this/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/what-matters-supremely-therefore-is-not-in-the-last-analysis-the-fact/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [We should bathe our spirits in the deep, pure feeling that stirs within us when we gaze on the glories of His creation. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/we-should-bathe-our-spirits-in-the-deep-pure-feeling-that-stirs/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [My children, mark me. I pray you. Know! God loves my soul so much that his very life and being depend upon his loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/my-children-mark-me-i-pray-you-know-god-loves-my-soul-so-much-that/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [Don’t concern yourself with being right in others’ eyes. And don’t secretly hope that their lives will fall apart so that your opinion will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-harris/don-t-concern-yourself-with-being-right-in-others-eyes-and-don-t/) [Joshua Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-harris/) > [I have never come to know God, to see God, to believe in God through doing science. He's not the conclusion of some sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-coyne/i-have-never-come-to-know-god-to-see-god-to-believe-in-god-through/) [George Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-coyne/) > [What’s the will of God for my life? You don’t need to know the will of God in your life, you need to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-washer/what-s-the-will-of-god-for-my-life-you-don-t-need-to-know-the-will-of/) [Paul Washer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-washer/) ## 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 God quotes > [I don't drink much anymore, but when I traveled with Frank Sinatra, God rest his soul, I used to drink like I could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-don-t-drink-much-anymore-but-when-i-traveled-with-frank-sinatra-god/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. 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/) > [“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/) > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The faster you go, the shorter you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-faster-you-go-the-shorter-you-are/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A lot of people have been saying 'The 100' reminds them of 'Lord Of The Flies,' 'Lost' and 'Battlestar Galactica,' and all of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-avgeropoulos/a-lot-of-people-have-been-saying-the-100-reminds-them-of-lord-of-the/) [Marie Avgeropoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-avgeropoulos/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [What would God have me do with my life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/what-would-god-have-me-do-with-my-life/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [God always gets the glory when Jesus comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-giglio/god-always-gets-the-glory-when-jesus-comes/) [Louie Giglio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-giglio/) > [“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/do-all-the-good-you-can-by-all-the-means-you-can-in-all-the-ways-you/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [You are a God Act like one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/you-are-a-god-act-like-one/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) [Browse all 37,707 God quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To know God and to live is the same thing. God is Life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thing-god-is-life/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "God" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thing-god-is-life/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/leo-tolstoy-55_god_to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thin_1914807.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To know God and to live is the same thing. God is Life.” — 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": "To know God and to live...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thing-god-is-life/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-know-god-and-to-live-is-the-same-thing-god-is-life/#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 } } ] } ```