--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Was it by reason that I attained to the…" description: "\"“Was it by reason that I attained to the knowledge that I must love my neighbor and not to throttle him?. They told me so when I was a child, and I gla..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/leo-tolstoy-55_children_was-it-by-reason-that-i-attained-to-the_2945867.jpg" --- # Was it by reason that I attained to the knowledge that I… ![“Was it by reason that I attained to the knowledge that I must love my neighbor and not to throttle him?. They told me so when I was a child, and I gladly believed it, because they told me what was already in my soul. But who discovered it? Not reason! Reason has discovered the struggle for…” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/leo-tolstoy-55_children_was-it-by-reason-that-i-attained-to-the_2945867.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/leo-tolstoy-55_children_was-it-by-reason-that-i-attained-to-the_2945867.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/leo-tolstoy-55_children_was-it-by-reason-that-i-attained-to-the_2945867.jpg) > ““Was it by reason that I attained to the knowledge that I must love my neighbor and not to throttle him?. They told me so when I was a child, and I gladly believed it, because they told me what was already in my soul. But who discovered it? Not reason! Reason has discovered the struggle for existence and the law that I must throttle all those who hinder the satisfaction of my desires. That is the deduction reason makes. But the law of loving others couldn't be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.”” [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. Moral intuition of love transcends rational deduction; love is innate, not a product of reason. **In simple terms:** Love is instinctive, not logical. Key Takeaway Trust inner moral sense. Themes ethics intuition humanity Mood philosophical reflective Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - personal relationships - social justice Key Concepts moral philosophy instinct Questions to Reflect On - Is love ever fully rational? - How do we reconcile reason with moral feeling? A Different Perspective Reason can also guide compassionate action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Life philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-philosophy/) [Loving others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loving-others/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Struggle for existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle-for-existence/) ## Related quotes > [Where did I get it from? Was it by reason that I attained to the knowledge that I must love my neighbour and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/where-did-i-get-it-from-was-it-by-reason-that-i-attained-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Was it through reason that I arrived at the necessity of loving my neighbor and not throttling him?...Not reason. Reason discovered the struggle for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/was-it-through-reason-that-i-arrived-at-the-necessity-of-loving-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Not reason. Reason discovered the struggle for existence, and the law that requires us to oppress all who hinder the satisfaction of our desires.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/not-reason-reason-discovered-the-struggle-for-existence-and-the-law/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/but-the-law-of-loving-others-could-not-be-discovered-by-reason/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Pierre's insanity consisted in the face that he did not wait, as before, for personal reasons, which he called people's merits, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/pierre-s-insanity-consisted-in-the-face-that-he-did-not-wait-as/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [When I had gone through the whole, and saw what a plain, simple, reasonable thing Christianity was, suited to all conditions and capacities; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/when-i-had-gone-through-the-whole-and-saw-what-a-plain-simple/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [“I have discovered the reason why a man pays for a woman: he wants to be happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho-s/i-have-discovered-the-reason-why-a-man-pays-for-a-woman-he-wants-to/) [Paulo Coelho's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho-s/) > [“The trouble with living alone, she had discovered-and the reason why most people she knew didn't like to be alone even for a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-trouble-with-living-alone-she-had-discovered-and-the-reason-why/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Great time begins when you have discovered the reason why .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osunsakin-adewale/great-time-begins-when-you-have-discovered-the-reason-why/) [Osunsakin Adewale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osunsakin-adewale/) > [“Without the friendship we'd never have discovered the reason we were friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-a-lancaster/without-the-friendship-we-d-never-have-discovered-the-reason-we-were/) [Mike A. Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-a-lancaster/) > [For faith, properly understood, does not contradict reason in the least; indeed...it is nothing less than the will to keep one's mind fixed precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-feser/for-faith-properly-understood-does-not-contradict-reason-in-the-least/) [Edward Feser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-feser/) > [Human reason has discovered many amazing things in nature and will discover still more, and will thereby increase its power over nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/human-reason-has-discovered-many-amazing-things-in-nature-and-will/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [“The struggle for existence and hatred are the only things that unite people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-struggle-for-existence-and-hatred-are-the-only-things-that-unite/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The survival or preservation of certain favoured words in the struggle for existence is natural selection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-survival-or-preservation-of-certain-favoured-words-in-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The facts of variability, of the struggle for existence, of adaptation to conditions, were notorious enough; but none of us had suspected that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-facts-of-variability-of-the-struggle-for-existence-of-adaptation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. 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