Everyone struggles with his whole strength to obtain what he does not need. It is easier to write ten volumes of philosophy than to put a single precept into practice. Men did and always will err, and in nothing more than what they consider right and wrong. Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, terrible illnesses, and every kind of spiritual suffering, but always the most poignant tragedy was, is, ever will be, the tragedy of the bedroom. Leo Tolstoy is universally recognised as a colossus of world literature. Author of some of the finest novels and stories ever written, he was also a religious and political thinker of outstanding originality and power. This collection of quotations reveals him to be as great a master of profound sayings as he was of the epic novel. Few voices have ever been so compelling and challenging.