48 War and Peace Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace is a historical book written by Leo Tolstoy that was first published in 1865-69 as Voyna I mir.

The book is a comprehensive examination of early nineteenth-century Russian society, notable for its mastery of realistic detail and range of psychological analysis.

Let’s go through the top quotes from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

War and Peace Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

“God is the same everywhere.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“It’s not those who are handsome we love, but those we love who are handsome.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Kings are the slaves of history.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“It’s different for you and me. You study, you become enlightened; I study, I become confused.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“I simply want to live; to cause no evil to anyone but myself.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“How can one be well…when one suffers morally?” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“He did what heroes do after their work is accomplished; he died.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“A battle is won by him who is firmly resolved to win it.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“One must be cunning and wicked in this world.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

Quotes from War and Peace

“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Here I am alive, and it’s not my fault, so I have to try and get by as best I can without hurting anybody until death takes over.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“The whole world is divided for me into two parts: one is she, and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other is where she is not, and there is dejection and darkness…” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Life is too long to say anything definitely; always say perhaps.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“There will be today, there will be tomorrow, there will be always, and there was yesterday, and there was the day before…” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Though the doctors treated him, let his blood, and gave him medications to drink, he nevertheless recovered.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“It’s too easy to criticize a man when he’s out of favour, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else’s mistakes.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

Famous War and Peace Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

“He never chooses an opinion, he just wears whatever happens to be in style.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“For a few seconds they looked silently into each other’s eyes, and the distant and impossible suddenly became near, possible, and inevitable.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Speech is silver but silence is golden.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“A man’s every action is inevitably conditioned by what surrounds him and by his own body.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“When one’s head is gone one doesn’t weep over one’s hair!” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“How often we sin, how much we deceive, and all for what?… All will end in death, all!” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“But our idea is that the wolves should be fed and the sheep kept safe.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“You can love a person dear to you with a human love, but an enemy can only be loved with divine love.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“In the best, the friendliest and simplest relations flattery or praise is necessary, just as grease is necessary to keep wheels turning.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

Popular War and Peace Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

“It’s all God’s will: you can die in your sleep, and God can spare you in battle.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Everything depends on upbringing.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“A battle is won by the side that is absolutely determined to win. Why did we lose the battle of Austerlitz? Our casualties were about the same as those of the French, but we had told ourselves early in the day that the battle was lost, so it was lost.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“You say: I am not free. But I have raised and lowered my arm. Everyone understands that this illogical answer is an irrefutable proof of freedom.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Pierre was right when he said that one must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy, and I now believe in it. Let the dead bury the dead, but while I’m alive, I must live and be happy.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“All we can know is that we know nothing. And that’s the height of human wisdom.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

Important War and Peace Quotes

“If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed.” ~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace.

“We are asleep until we fall in Love!” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“A man on a thousand mile walk has to forget his goal and say to himself every morning, ‘Today I’m going to cover twenty-five miles and then rest up and sleep.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Human science fragments everything in order to understand it, kills everything in order to examine it.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“We love people not so much for the good they’ve done us, as for the good we’ve done them.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“The strongest of all warriors are these two – Time and Patience.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“It’s not given to people to judge what’s right or wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Everything I know, I know because of love.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“I’m getting old, that’s the thing! What’s in me now won’t be there anymore.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

“Life did not stop, and one had to live.” ~ Leo Tolstoy (quote from War and Peace).

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