home > Tips > We write an essay on social studies on the topic. Leo Tolstoy about civilization Leo Tolstoy wrote in an immoral society

We write an essay on social studies on the topic. Leo Tolstoy about civilization Leo Tolstoy wrote in an immoral society

1. Find the definitions of the words "personality" and "society" in two or three dictionaries. Compare them. If there are differences in the definition of the same word, try to explain them.

2. From the completed part of the history course, highlight the event that you are particularly interested in. Using the knowledge gained in this chapter of social science, formulate questions aimed at analyzing a historical event (for example: “What was society like before this event?”, etc.). In the history textbook, try to find the answer to them. In case of difficulty, contact the teacher.

3. Read the figurative definitions of society given by thinkers of different times and peoples: “Society is nothing but the result of a mechanical balance of brute forces”, “Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other”, “Society - this is the yoke of the scales, which cannot raise some without lowering others. Which of these definitions is closest to the characterization of society outlined in this chapter? Justify your choice.

4. Make as complete a list as possible of various human qualities (a table of two columns: “Positive qualities”, “ Negative qualities"). Discuss it in class.

5. LN Tolstoy wrote: "In an immoral society, all inventions that increase man's power over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil."

6. In the collective work of Russian philosophers, the inherent features of people are presented in the following context: “In whatever region of the globe we get, we will meet there human beings, about which it is legitimate to assert at least the following:

They know how to make tools with the help of tools and use them as a means of producing material goods;

They know the simplest moral prohibitions and the absolute opposition of good and evil;

They have needs, sense perceptions, and mental skills that have developed historically;

They can neither form nor exist outside of society;

The individual qualities and virtues they recognize are social definitions that correspond to one or another type of objective relations;

Their life activity is not initially programmed, but consciously-volitional, as a result of which they are beings who have the ability of self-coercion, conscience and consciousness of responsibility.

Find in the studied chapter of the textbook and quote those provisions that characterize each of the properties that are inherent in a person named in the above passage. Are there any of these properties that you met in this text for the first time? Which of the following do you consider the most important and why? How do you understand the words "foundation of humanity"? What other human qualities would you build on this foundation? If any of these signs is not clear to you, ask the teacher to explain it.

7. Reveal the meaning of the Arabic proverb "People are more like their time than their fathers." Think about the difference between the life of society in our time and what it was at the time when your parents finished school. Discuss these questions with your parents. Together with them, determine how the generation of your parents, who were your age, differed from your generation.

Discuss in class the new features of today's youth.

8. After consulting with teachers, collect information about the graduates of your school who have chosen various professions. Find the most successful ones. Prepare a stand with materials about their work activities.

LEADING: Lev Nikolaevich, what is “patriotism” for you?

TOLSTOY: Patriotism is an immoral feeling because instead of recognizing oneself as the son of God, as Christianity teaches us, or at least as a free man guided by his own reason, every person, under the influence of patriotism, recognizes himself as the son of his fatherland, the slave of his government and commits acts contrary to his reason. and your conscience. Patriotism in its simplest, clearest and most undoubted meaning is nothing else for the rulers, as a tool for achieving power-hungry and selfish goals, and for the ruled - the renunciation of human dignity, reason, conscience and the slavish submission of oneself to those who are in power. This is how it is preached everywhere.

LEADING: Do you really think that there can be no modern positive patriotism?

TOLSTOY: Patriotism cannot be good. Why do people not say that selfishness cannot be good, although this could rather be argued, because selfishness is a natural feeling with which a person is born, while patriotism is an unnatural feeling, artificially instilled in him. So, for example, in Russia, where patriotism in the form of love and devotion to the faith, the tsar and the fatherland is instilled in the people with extraordinary intensity by all the tools in the hands of the government: churches, schools, the press and all solemnity, the Russian working man is a hundred million Russian people Despite the undeserved reputation that they have given it as a people especially devoted to their faith, the tsar and the fatherland, there is a people most free from the deceit of patriotism. For the most part, he does not know his faith, that Orthodox, state one, to which he is allegedly so devoted, but as soon as he finds out, he abandons it and becomes a rationalist; to his king, in spite of the incessant, intensified suggestions in this direction, he treats like all the authorities - if not with condemnation, then with complete indifference; but he either does not know his fatherland at all, if he does not mean by this his village, volost, or, if he knows, then he does not make any difference between him and other states.

LEADING: So you think that the feeling of patriotism in people and it is not necessary to educate?!

TOLSTOY: I have already several times had to express the idea that patriotism in our time is an unnatural, unreasonable, harmful feeling, causing a large proportion of the disasters from which humanity suffers, and that therefore this feeling should not be cultivated, as it is done now - on the contrary, it is suppressed and destroyed by all dependent on reasonable people means.

(There is panic in the editorial office, the bugs in the ears of the presenters are bursting ...)

HOST: Well, you know... We don't... You... at least put on a nice suit!!

TOLSTOY: But the amazing thing is, despite the undeniable and obvious dependence only on this feeling of general armaments ruining the people and destructive wars, all my arguments about backwardness, untimeliness and the dangers of patriotism have met and still meet either silence, or deliberate misunderstanding, or always one and the same thing. but with a strange objection: it is said that only bad patriotism, jingoism, chauvinism is harmful, but that real, good patriotism is a very lofty moral feeling, to condemn which is not only unreasonable, but also criminal. What this real, good patriotism consists of is either not said at all, or instead of explanation, pompous high-sounding phrases are uttered, or something is presented under the concept of patriotism that has nothing in common with the patriotism that we all know and from which everything suffer so hard.

... HOST: We have one minute left, and I would like all the participants in the discussion to formulate literally in two or three words - what is patriotism?

TOLSTOY: Patriotism is slavery.

Quotations from LN Tolstoy's articles "Christianity and Patriotism" (1894), "Patriotism or Peace?" (1896), "Patriotism and Government" (1900). Note that the time is quiet and prosperous; The Russo-Japanese War, the First World War and the rest of the 20th century are still ahead ... However, Tolstoy is a genius for that.)

Leo Tolstoy about civilization
14.11.2012

A selection of Maxim Orlov,
Gorval village, Gomel region (Belarus).

I have seen ants. They crawled up and down the tree. I don't know what they could take there? But only those that crawl up have a small, ordinary abdomen, while those that descend have a thick, heavy one. Apparently, they were gaining something inside themselves. And so he crawls, only knows his path. On the tree - bumps, growths, he bypasses them and crawls further ... In old age, it is somehow especially surprising to me when I look at ants like that, at trees. And what do all airplanes mean before that! So it's all rude, clumsy! .. 1

Went for a walk. A wonderful autumn morning, quiet, warm, greenery, the smell of a leaf. And people, instead of this wonderful nature, with fields, forests, water, birds, animals, arrange for themselves in cities a different, artificial nature, with factory pipes, palaces, locomobiles, phonographs ... Terrible, and you can’t fix it in any way ... 2

Nature better than a man. There is no bifurcation in it, it is always consistent. She should be loved everywhere, for she is beautiful everywhere and works everywhere and always. (...)

Man, however, knows how to spoil everything, and Rousseau is quite right when he says that everything that came out of the hands of the creator is beautiful, and everything that comes from the hands of man is worthless. There is no wholeness in man at all. 3

It is necessary to see and understand what truth and beauty are, and everything that you say and think, all your desires for happiness both for me and for yourself, will shatter into dust. Happiness is being with nature, seeing it, talking to it. four

We destroy millions of flowers in order to build palaces, theaters with electric lighting, and one color of burdock is more precious than thousands of palaces. 5

I picked a flower and threw it away. There are so many of them that it is not a pity. We do not appreciate this inimitable beauty of living beings and destroy them, not sparing - not only plants, but animals, people. There are so many. Culture * - civilization is nothing but the destruction of these beauties and their replacement. With what? Tavern, theater ... 6

Instead of learning to live a love life, people learn to fly. They fly very badly, but they stop learning about the life of love, if only to learn how to fly somehow. It's the same as if birds stop flying and learn to run or build bicycles and ride them. 7

It is a great mistake to think that all inventions that increase the power of people over nature in agriculture, in the extraction and chemical combination of substances, and the possibility of a great influence of people on each other, such as ways and means of communication, printing, telegraph, telephone, phonograph, are good. Both power over nature and an increase in the possibility of people influencing each other will be good only when people's activity is guided by love, the desire for good for others, and will be evil when it is led by egoism, the desire for good only for themselves. The dug out metals can be used for the convenience of people's lives or for cannons, the consequence of increasing the fertility of the earth can provide food for people and can be the reason for the increased distribution and consumption of opium, vodka, ways of communication and means of communication of thoughts can spread good and evil influences. And therefore, in an immoral society (...) all inventions that increase the power of man over nature, and means of communication, are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil. eight

They say, I say, that printing did not contribute to the welfare of people. This is not enough. Nothing that increases the possibility of people influencing each other: railways, telegraphs, backgrounds, steamships, cannons, all military devices, explosives and everything that is called "culture" has in no way contributed to the welfare of people in our time, but on the contrary. It could not be otherwise among people, most of whom live a non-religious, immoral life. If the majority is immoral, then the means of influence, obviously, will only contribute to the spread of immorality.

The means of influence of culture can be beneficial only when the majority, albeit a small one, is religious and moral. It is desirable that the relationship between morality and culture is such that culture develops only simultaneously and slightly behind the moral movement. When culture overtakes, as it is now, then this is a great calamity. Perhaps, and even I think that it is a temporary calamity, that due to the excess of culture over morality, although there must be temporary suffering, the backwardness of morality will cause suffering, as a result of which culture will be delayed and the movement of morality will be accelerated, and the right attitude will be restored. 9

The progress of mankind is usually measured by its technical, scientific success, believing that civilization leads to good. This is not true. Both Rousseau and all those who admire the wild, patriarchal state are just as right or just as wrong as those who admire civilization. The benefit of people living and enjoying the highest, most refined civilization, culture, and the most primitive, wild people is exactly the same. It is just as impossible to increase the welfare of people by science - civilization, culture, as to make sure that on a water plane the water in one place would be higher than in others. An increase in the good of people only from an increase in love, which by its very nature equalizes all people; scientific and technical progress is a matter of age, and civilized people are just as little superior to uncivilized people in their well-being as an adult person is superior to a non-adult in his well-being. The only blessing comes from an increase in love. ten

When people's lives are immoral and their relations are not based on love, but on selfishness, then all technical improvements, the increase in man's power over nature: steam, electricity, telegraphs, all kinds of machines, gunpowder, dynamites, robulites - give the impression of dangerous toys that are given in children's hands. eleven

In our age there is a terrible superstition that we enthusiastically accept every invention that reduces labor, and consider it necessary to use it, without asking ourselves whether this invention that reduces labor increases our happiness, whether it destroys beauty. . We are like a woman who by force eats up beef, because she got it, although she does not want to eat, and the food will probably harm her. Railways instead of walking, cars instead of horses, stocking machines instead of knitting needles. 12

Civilized and wild are equal. Mankind advances only in love, and there is no and cannot be progress from technical improvement. 13

If the Russian people are uncivilized barbarians, then we have a future. The Western peoples are civilized barbarians, and they have nothing to look forward to. It is the same for us to imitate the Western peoples as it is for a healthy, hard-working, unspoiled fellow to envy the bald-headed young rich man in Paris sitting in his hotel. Ah, que je m "embete!**

Do not envy and imitate, but regret. fourteen

The Western nations are far ahead of us, but they are ahead of us on the wrong path. In order for them to follow the real path, they have to go a long way back. We only need to deviate a little from that false path that we have just embarked on and along which the Western peoples are returning to meet us. fifteen

We often look at the ancients as if they were children. And we are children in front of the ancients, in front of their deep, serious, uncluttered understanding of life. 16

How easily what is called civilization, real civilization, is assimilated by individuals and nations! Go through the university, clean your nails, use the services of a tailor and a hairdresser, go abroad, and the most civilized person is ready. And for the peoples: more railways, academies, factories, dreadnoughts, fortresses, newspapers, books, parties, parliaments - and the most civilized people are ready. This is why people seize on civilization, and not on enlightenment - both individuals and nations. The former is easy, requires no effort, and evokes approval; the second, on the contrary, requires strenuous effort and not only does not evoke approval, but is always despised, hated by the majority, because it exposes the lies of civilization. 17

They compare me to Rousseau. I owe a lot to Rousseau and love him, but there is a big difference. The difference is that Rousseau denies all civilization, while I deny false Christian civilization. What is called civilization is the growth of mankind. Growth is necessary, you can't talk about it, whether it's good or bad. It is, it has life in it. Like the growth of a tree. But the bough, or the forces of life, growing into the bough, are wrong, harmful, if they absorb all the force of growth. This is with our pseudo-civilization. eighteen

Psychiatrists know that when a person begins to talk a lot, to talk without ceasing, about everything in the world, without thinking about anything and only in a hurry to say as many words as possible in the shortest possible time, they know that this is a bad and sure sign of an incipient or already developed mental illness. . When, at the same time, the patient is fully convinced that he knows everything better than anyone, that he can and should teach everyone his wisdom, then the signs of mental illness are already beyond doubt. Our so-called civilized world is in this dangerous and miserable position. And I think - already very close to the same destruction that the previous civilizations were subjected to. 19

External movement is empty, only by internal work is a person freed. Belief in progress, that someday it will be good and until then we can unreasonably arrange life for ourselves and others, is a superstition. twenty

* Reading the works of N.K. Roerich, we are accustomed to understanding Culture as "reverence for the light", as a constructive, inviting moral force. In the quotes cited by Leo Tolstoy here and below the word "culture", as we can see, is used in the meaning of "civilization".

** Oh, how I'm mad with boredom! (French)

... We are all carried away into the distance on the same planet - we are the crew of one ship. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Without the belief that nature is subject to laws, there can be no science. Norbert Wiener

Good nature has taken care of everything so that everywhere you find something to learn. Leonardo da Vinci

Closest to the Divine in this world is nature. Astolf de Custine

The wind is the breath of nature. Kozma Prutkov

In an immoral society, all inventions that increase the power of man over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil. Lev Tolstoy

In undeveloped countries, it is deadly to drink water; in developed countries, it is deadly to breathe air. Jonathan Rayban

In nature, everything is connected with each other, and there is nothing accidental in it. And if a random phenomenon comes out, look for a human hand in it. Mikhail Prishvin

In nature, there are both grains and dust. William Shakespeare

In nature, nothing is wasted except nature itself. Andrey Kryzhanovsky

Time destroys false opinions, and the judgments of nature confirm. Mark Cicero

Nature has its own poetry in its time. John Keats

All the best in nature belongs to everyone together. Petronius

All living things are afraid of torment, all living things are afraid of death; know yourself not only in man, but in every living being, do not kill and do not cause suffering and death. Buddhist wisdom

In all areas of nature ... a certain regularity dominates, independent of the existence of thinking humanity. Max Planck

In his tools man has power over external nature, while for his purposes he is rather subordinate to it. Georg Hegel

The richest countries of old were those whose nature was most abundant; the richest countries today are those in which man is most active. Henry Buckle

Every thing in nature is either a cause towards you or an effect from us. Marsilio Ficino

As long as people do not listen to the sound mind of nature, they will be forced to obey either dictators or the opinion of the people. Wilhelm Schwebel

Stupid is he who is not satisfied with what happens according to the laws of nature. Epictetus

They say one swallow does not make spring; but is it really because one swallow does not make spring, that swallow that already feels spring does not fly, but wait. So it is necessary to wait then for every bud and grass, and there will be no spring. Lev Tolstoy

Grandiose things are done by grandiose means. Nature alone does great things for free. Alexander Ivanovich Herzen

Even in his most beautiful dreams, man cannot imagine anything more beautiful than nature. Alphonse de Lamartine

Even the smallest pleasure bestowed on us by nature is a mystery beyond the comprehension of the mind. Luc de Vauvenargues

The ideal of human nature lies in orthobiosis, i.e. in the development of man with the aim of achieving a long, active and cheerful old age, leading in the final period to the development of a feeling of saturation with life. Ilya Mechnikov

The search for goals in nature has its source in ignorance. Benedict Spinoza

He who does not love nature does not love man either, that is a bad citizen. Fedor Dostoevsky

Whoever looks at nature superficially is easily lost in the boundless "All," but whoever listens more deeply to its miracles is constantly led to God, the Lord of the world. Carl de Geer

Our callousness, our selfishness induces us to look with envy at nature, but she herself will envy us when we recover from ailments. Ralph Emerson

There is nothing more inventive than nature. Mark Cicero

But why change the processes of nature? There may be a deeper philosophy than we have ever dreamed of, a philosophy that reveals the secrets of nature, but does not change its course by penetrating into it. Edward Bulwer-Lytton

One of the most difficult tasks of our time is the problem of slowing down the process of destruction of wildlife ... Archie Carr

The main law of nature is the preservation of mankind. John Locke

Let us thank the wise nature for making the necessary easy and the heavy unnecessary. Epicurus

As long as people do not know the laws of nature, they blindly obey them, and once they know them, then the forces of nature obey people. Georgy Plekhanov

Nature will always take its toll. William Shakespeare

Nature is the house in which man lives. Dmitry Likhachev

Nature is impassive to man; she is neither an enemy nor a friend to him; it is now a convenient, now an inconvenient field for his activity. Nikolay Chernyshevsky

Nature is an eternal example of art; and the greatest and noblest thing in nature is man. Vissarion Belinsky

Nature has implanted in every good heart a noble feeling, by virtue of which it cannot be happy itself, but must seek its happiness in others. Johann Goethe

Nature has invested in man some innate instincts, such as: the feeling of hunger, sexual feeling, etc., and one of the strongest feelings of this order is the feeling of ownership. Pyotr Stolypin

Nature is always stronger than principles. David Hume

Nature is one, and there is nothing equal to her: the mother and daughter of herself, she is the Deity of the gods. Consider only her, Nature, and leave the rest to the common people. Pythagoras

Nature is, in a certain sense, the gospel, loudly proclaiming the creative power, wisdom, and all the greatness of God. And not only the heavens, but also the bowels of the earth preach the glory of God. Mikhail Lomonosov

Nature is the cause of everything, it exists by itself; it will exist and act forever... Paul Holbach

Nature, which endowed every animal with the means of subsistence, gave astronomy as an assistant and ally astrology. Johannes Kepler

Nature scoffs at the decisions and decrees of princes, emperors and monarchs, and at their request she would not change her laws one iota. Galileo Galilei

Nature does not make people, people make themselves. Merab Mamardashvili

Nature does not know a stop in its movement and executes any inactivity. Johann Goethe

Nature does not presuppose any goals for itself ... All final causes are only human inventions. Benedict Spinoza

Nature does not recognize jokes, she is always truthful, always serious, always strict; she is always right; errors and errors come from people. Johann Goethe

Patience is most reminiscent of the method by which nature creates its creations. Honore de Balzac

What is contrary to nature never leads to good. Friedrich Schiller

A person has quite enough objective reasons to strive for the conservation of wildlife. But in the end, only his love can save nature. Jean Dorst

Good taste suggested to good society that contact with nature is the very last word of science, reason, and common sense. Fedor Dostoevsky

Man does not become the master of nature until he has become the master of himself. Georg Hegel

Mankind - without ennobling it with animals and plants - will perish, become impoverished, fall into the rage of despair, like a lonely man in solitude. Andrey Platonov

The more one goes into the workings of nature, the more visible becomes the simplicity of the laws that she follows in her doings. Alexander Radishchev

Question 1. Find the definitions of the words "personality" and "society" in two or three dictionaries. Compare them. If there are differences in the definition of the same word, try to explain them.

Personality is a person as a social and natural being, endowed with consciousness, speech, and creative abilities.

Personality is a person as a subject of social relations and conscious activity.

Society - A set of people united by the method of production of material goods at a certain stage of historical development, certain production relations.

Society - A circle of people united by a common position, origin, interests, etc.

Question 3. Read the figurative definitions of society given by thinkers of different times and peoples: “Society is nothing but the result of a mechanical balance of brute forces”, “Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other”, “ Society is a yoke of scales that cannot raise some without lowering others. Which of these definitions is closest to the characterization of society outlined in this chapter? Justify your choice.

"Society is a vault of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other." Because society in a broad sense is a form of association of people with common interests, values and goals.

Question 4. Make as complete a list of various human qualities as possible (a table of two columns: "Positive qualities", "Negative qualities"). Discuss it in class.

POSITIVE:

modest

frank

sincere

self-confident

decisive

purposeful

assembled

bold, brave

balanced

calm, cool

quick-witted

generous, generous

resourceful, resourceful, resourceful

prudent, prudent

healthy, sane

accommodating, accommodating

hardworking

meek, soft

caring, attentive to others

sympathetic

polite

selfless

merciful, compassionate

witty

cheerful, cheerful

serious

NEGATIVE:

self-satisfied, conceited

dishonest

deceitful, mean

cunning, cunning

insincere

unconfident,

indecisive

scattered

cowardly, cowardly

hot-tempered

unbalanced

vicious, cruel

vindictive

unimaginative, stupid

imprudent, reckless

cruel

selfish

indifferent, indifferent

rude, impolite

greedy

pitiless, ruthless

gloomy, gloomy, gloomy

Question 5. LN Tolstoy wrote: "In an immoral society, all inventions that increase man's power over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil."

How do you understand the words "immoral society"? Considering that the above thought was expressed more than 100 years ago, has it been confirmed in the development of society over the past century? Justify your answer with specific examples.

Immorality is the quality of a person who ignores moral laws in his life. This is a quality that is characterized by a tendency to comply with the rules and norms of relations that are opposite, directly opposite to those accepted by humanity, a person in faith, in a particular society. Immorality is evil, deceit, theft, idleness, parasitism, depravity, profanity, debauchery, drunkenness, lack of conscience, self-will, etc. Immorality is a state of primarily spiritual depravity, and then physical, it is always lack of spirituality. The slightest manifestations of immorality in children should cause the need for adults to improve the environment of education and educational work with them. The immorality of an adult is fraught with consequences for the whole society.

Use the list of possible topics when preparing and writing an essay ().

Topics are divided into blocks:

Philosophy
Social Psychology
Economy
Sociology
Political science

Philosophy Essay Topics

"Man is unthinkable outside of society." L. Tolstoy
"Man is of value to society only insofar as he serves it." A. France
"Only he comprehends the truth, who carefully studies nature, people and himself." N.N. Pirogov
"History by itself can neither compel a person nor draw him into a dirty business." P. Sartre
“History is the truth that becomes a lie. A myth is a lie that becomes the truth." J. Cocteau
"A world in which evil would prevail over good would not exist or would disappear." E. Renan
“To see and feel is to be, to think is to live.” W. Shakespeare
“Our views are like our clocks: they all show different times, but everyone believes only his own.” A. Pop
"World history is the sum of all that could have been avoided." B. Russell
"Life has exactly the value we want it to have." I. Berdyaev
"Society does not necessarily conform to political boundaries." S. Turner
“We should strive to learn facts, not opinions, and, on the contrary, find a place for these facts in the system of our opinions.” G. Lichtenberg
"Knowledge and life are inseparable." L. Feuchtwanger
"The fullness of knowledge always means some misunderstanding of the depth of our ignorance." R. Milliken
“To acquire knowledge is still not enough for a person; one must be able to give it away in growth.” I. Goethe
“To know is to fully understand the whole of nature.” F. Nietzsche
"There are two kinds of knowledge: one by means of the senses, the other by thought." Democritus
"He who has not studied the man in himself will never reach a deep knowledge of people." N.G. Chernyshevsky
"Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other." Seneca
“In an immoral society, all inventions that increase the power of man over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil.” L. Tolstoy
"There is no progress without struggle." F. Douglas
"Man out of society or god or beast." Aristotle
"Man is not a thing, but creature, which can be understood only in the long process of its development. At any moment of his life, he is not yet what he can become, and what he may yet become. Aristotle
“If a person has a “why” to live, he can withstand any “how”. F. Nietzsche
"A child at the moment of birth is not a man, but only a candidate for man." A. Pieron
"Man is a fundamental novelty in nature." ON THE. Berdyaev
"Man is the only animal for whom own existence is a problem: he must solve it, and there is no getting away from it.” E. Fromm
"The pains of creativity and the joys of creativity are a single whole." I. Shevelev
"Man is nature's unexpected, beautiful, painful attempt to realize itself." V. Shukshin
“The most important task of civilization is to teach man to think.” T. Edison
“Man is meant to live in society; he is not fully human and contradicts his essence if he lives as a hermit. I. Fichte
"No vessel can hold more than its volume, except for the vessel of knowledge - it is constantly expanding." Arabic proverb
“Information without human understanding is like an answer without a question – it has no meaning.” A. Maslow
“Everything that a person touches acquires something human.” S. Marshak
“In order to know something, you must already know something.” S. Lem
“Those doubts that theory does not resolve, practice will resolve you.” L. Feuerbach
"How many, however, there are things that I don't need." Socrates
“The end can only be achieved when the means itself is already permeated through and through by the own nature of the end.” F. Lassalle
“If there is no goal, you do nothing, and you do nothing great if the goal is insignificant.” D. Diderot
"The beast never comes to such a terrible fall as a man comes to." ON THE. Berdyaev
"Man can do without many things, but not without man." L. Berne
“In man, the duties of the king are carried out by reason.” E. Rotterdam

Social Psychology Essay Topics

“We are shaped by the things we do.” Aristotle
"Everyone wants to be the exception to the rule, and there is no exception to this rule." M. Forbes
"Man does what he is and becomes what he does." R. Musil
“The process of socialization is entry into social environment, adaptation to it, the development of certain roles and functions, which, following its predecessors, is repeated by each individual throughout the entire history of its formation and development. B.D. Parygin
“When explaining any mental phenomena, a person acts as a united set of internal conditions through which all external influences are refracted.” S.L. Rubinstein
“Without a goal there is no activity, without interests there is no goal, and without activity there is no life.” V.G. Belinsky
"Man is inconceivable without contact with the people around him." A.M. Yakovlev
“Man is a being who rushes towards the future and realizes that he is projecting himself into the future.” J.P. Sartre
“Man will become, first of all, what he is designed to be.” J.P. Sartre
“Man simply exists, and he is not only what he imagines himself to be, but what he wants to become.” J.P. Sartre
« human essence is evident only in communion, in the unity of man with man. L. Feuerbach
"Personality is a person as a carrier of consciousness." K.K. Platonov
"The family is the primary womb of human culture." I. Ilyin
"People exist for each other." M. Aurelius
“Truth is forgotten in disputes. The smartest one stops the argument. L. Tolstoy
“Look at my children. My former freshness is alive in them. They are the justification for my old age.” W. Shakespeare
“In married life, the united couple should form, as it were, a single moral personality.” I. Kant
“The personality of a person is in no sense pre-existent in relation to his activity, like his consciousness, it is generated by it.” A.N. Leontiev
“One and the same person, entering different teams, changing target settings, can change - sometimes within very significant limits.” Yu.M. Lotman
« good people become more by exercise than by nature. Democritus “We must always try to look not for what separates us from other people, but for what we have with
them in common." D. Reskin
“To decipher man means, in essence, to try to find out how the world was formed and how it
must continue to form” P. Teilhard de Chardin
"A role is not a person, but ... an image behind which it is hidden." A.N. Leontiev
"He who, turning to the old, is able to discover the new, is worthy of being a teacher." Confucius
“Independence and freethinking are the essence of creativity.” F. Mitterrand
"The mere absence of vice does not imply the presence of virtue." A. Machado
“We need to stand on our own feet and look the world straight in the face…see the world for what it is and not be afraid of it.” B. Russell
"People are born only with pure nature, and only then do their fathers make them Jews, Christians or fire worshipers." Saadi
“There is no unconditional opposition between tradition and reason… Preservation of the old is the free attitude of man.” H.G. Gadamer
"Becoming part of an organized crowd, a person descends several steps down the ladder of civilization." G. Lebon
“Learn to rule yourself” A.S. Pushkin
"The great secret of any behavior is social behavior ... Not in the least degree would I dare to say anything about how a person will behave in a group." F. Bartlett
"The pinnacle of ourselves, the crown of our originality, is not our individuality, but our personality." P. Teilhard de Chardin
"Without society, man would be pathetic, lacking the urge to improve." W. Godwin
“Nature creates man, but society develops and shapes him.” V.G. Belinsky
"Family interests almost always ruin the interests of the public." F. Bacon
“All marriages are successful. Difficulties begin when life begins together. F. Sagan
"All kinds of arts serve the greatest of the arts - the art of living on Earth." B. Brecht
“The great goal of education is not knowledge, but action” G. Spencer
“Morality is not a list of actions and not a collection of rules that can be used like pharmaceutical or culinary recipes” D. Dewey

Economics Essay Topics

“Without development there is no entrepreneurial profit, without the latter there is no development.” J. Schumpeter
"Wherever there is commerce, there are mild manners." C. Montesquieu
"Economic competition is not war, but rivalry in the interests of each other." E. Kannan
“To make a lot of money is courage, to keep their wisdom, and to spend it skillfully is an art.” B.Auerbach
"Competitiveness is born not in the world market, but within the country." M. Porter
"Socialism is an equal distribution of squalor, while capitalism is an unequal distribution of bliss." W. Churchill
"Business is the art of getting money out of another person's pocket without resorting to violence." M. Amsterdam
“Wealth is not in the possession of treasures, but in the ability to use them.” Napoleon I
"All commerce is an attempt to foresee the future." S. Butler
"The surest profit is that which is the result of thrift." Publius Cyrus
"Whoever wants the least, has the least need." Publius Cyrus
"Moderation is the wealth of the poor, greed is the poverty of the rich." Publius Cyrus
"Economics is the art of satisfying unlimited needs with limited resources." L. Peter
"There are no free breakfasts." B. Crane
“The whole advantage of having money lies in the ability to use it.” B. Franklin
“Markets, like parachutes, only work when they are open.” G. Schmidt
“A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a crisis is when you lose your job.” G. Truman
"The market price of each commodity is governed by the ratio between the quantity currently offered on the market and the demand of those who are willing to pay its natural price for this commodity." A. Smith
"The indispensable condition for the operation of economic laws is free competition." A. Smith
“Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society.” OU. Holmes
"Each person should be given an equal right to pursue his own benefit, and the whole society benefits from this." A. Smith
“The effectiveness of a particular economic system should be judged by comparing it with alternative options ...” A. Smith
"Friendship based on business is preferable to business based on friendship." J. Rockefeller
"Even the most generous person tries to pay cheaper for what is bought daily." B. Show
“Economy is the ability to make the best use of life.” B. Show
“Capital is the portion of wealth that we sacrifice to increase our wealth.” A. Marshall
"Money is the measure of all things traded." A.N. Radishchev
"The first rule of business is to treat others as they would like to treat you." Ch. Dickens
“Wealth is an extra luxury, it is a theft committed from others.” R. Rollan
"Happiness is not in money, but in how to increase it." American proverb
"Money either dominates its owner or serves him." Horace
“What must not be forgotten is the simple truth: everything that the government gives, it first took away.” D. Coleman
"Property is theft." P.Zh. Proudhon
"Poverty is slavery, but excessive wealth is also slavery." J. Jaures
"True poor is only one who wants more than he can have." A. Jussier
"In the ordinary and daily state of affairs, the demand for any goods precedes their supply." D. Ricardo
"It is not the art of acquiring that should be learned, but the art of spending." I. Stobey
"Savings make up the richest income." I. Stobey
"Taxes are money levied on a part of society for the benefit of the whole." I. Sherr
"Competition provides the best qualities of products and develops the worst qualities of people." D. Sarnoff
"Without competitors, even a very rich country can quickly decline." E. Grove
"The pursuit of profit is the only way people can satisfy the needs of those they don't know at all." F. Hayek
"Three things make a nation great and prosperous: fertile soil, active industry, and ease of movement of people and goods." F. Bacon
“Not to lay a hand on amateur performance, but to develop it, creating favorable conditions for its use - this is the true task of the state in the national economy.” S.Yu. Witte

Political Science Essay Topics

"Politics disguises lies into truth and truth into lies." P. Buast
"Good politics is no different from healthy morality." G.B. de Mably
"Politics is about business decisions, not long-winded speeches about decisions." F. Burlatsky
“Politics is essentially power: the ability to achieve a desired result, by whatever means.” E Heywood
“Politics is the art of adapting to circumstances and taking advantage of what is disgusting.” O. Bismarck
"There is no human soul that can withstand the temptations of power." Plato
"Power is dangerous when the conscience is at odds in it." W. Shakespeare
"The whole secret of politics is to know the time to lie, and to know the time to remain silent." Marquise de Pompadour
"Morality without politics is useless; politics without morality is inglorious." A.P. Sumarokov
"The most fatal mistake that has ever been made in the world is the separation of political science from moral science." P. Shelley
"High places make great people greater, and low places lower." J. La Bruyère
"International politics, like any other, is a struggle for power." G. Morgenthau
"Political culture is just a manifestation of how people perceive politics and how they interpret what they see." S. Verba
“The difference between a statesman and a politician is that a politician is oriented towards the next elections, and a statesman is oriented towards the next generations.” W. Churchill
"The rulers become clever vote-pickers." K.P. Pobedonostsev
« Government- there is the will of some (those in power) based on independent strength to subjugate the will of others (subjects). G.F. Shershenevich
"The state is the territory of power." A. Kruglov
"States are acquired either by one's own or by someone else's weapons, or by the grace of fate, or by valor." N. Machiavelli
"The more developed the state, the more it is removed from society." V.B. Shepherds
"The task of the state is only to eliminate evil and the state is not obliged to promote the well-being of citizens." W. Humboldt
“Next to the activities of the state, it is necessary to provide an opportunity and a wide range of personal freedom. The goal of social life consists in the harmonious agreement of both elements, and not in the sacrifice of one in favor of the other. B. Chicherin
"Justice is a public good." Aristotle
“The well-being of the state is ensured not by the money that it annually releases to officials, but by the money that it annually leaves in the pockets of citizens” I. Eötvös
"There are no single and the same ideas of individual freedom, the legal system, the constitutional state, the same for all peoples." B. Kistyakovsky
"The greatness and sanctity of the state consists, first of all, in the steady implementation of justice." A. Steel
“Any government degrades if it is entrusted only to the rulers of the people. Only the people themselves are the reliable custodian of power and the people.” T. Jefferson
"Total obedience to the law of kindness will eliminate the need for government and state." O. Frontingham
“Lack of money, but of people and talents, makes the state weak.” Voltaire
“In a democracy, a person not only enjoys the greatest possible power, but also bears the greatest possible responsibility.” N. Cousins
"Democracy does not mean that people actually govern, but only that they have the opportunity to elect rulers." J. Schumpeter
"We choose democracy not because it is replete with virtues, but to avoid tyranny." K. Popper
"The principle of democracy decays not only when the spirit of equality is lost, but also when the spirit of equality is carried to the extreme and everyone wants to be equal to those whom he has elected as his rulers." Sh.-L. Montesquieu
“The democratic system is far from always and not everywhere in place. It has its necessary foundations or "prerequisites": if they are not there, then democracy does not give anything but long-term decay and death. I. Ilyin
“A participant in a democratic system needs personal character and devotion to the motherland, traits that ensure certainty of outlook, incorruptibility, responsibility and civil courage in him.” I. Ilyin
"When a tyrant rules, the people are silent, and the laws do not work." Saadi
“If people hoped to find better conditions for themselves in a tyrannical state of a firm hand, they rushed there headlong” F. Guicciardini
“A tyrant is a robber who is not afraid of either judgment or punishment. This is a judge without trial and law. Y. Krizhanich
"Totalitarianism is a political system that has infinitely expanded its intervention in the lives of citizens." I. Ilyin
“At the head of it (totalitarianism) march the most ruthless, those who have nothing to lose, to whom war is their mother, and civil war is their fatherland.” C. Hayden
“The best should rule in all states and under all regimes. Any regime is bad if the worst govern under it. I. Ilyin
"There is a minimum level of education and awareness without which every vote becomes its own caricature." I. Ilyin
The freedom of the citizen is the basis rule of law". Robert von Mol Jurisprudence
“All power presupposes a minimum of law, all law presupposes a minimum of power.” B.P. Vysheslavtsev
"The more developed, more mature and deeper the legal consciousness, the more perfect the law." I.A. Ilyin
"The freedom of one person ends where the freedom of another begins." M. Bakunin
"The right of man must be considered sacred, no matter what sacrifices it may cost the ruling power." I. Kant
"Legality is one of the greatest achievements of the liberal era, which served not only as a shield of freedom, but as a well-functioning legal mechanism for its implementation." F. Hayek
"Punishment cannot be eternal, but guilt endures forever." A saying from Roman law "In sound theory, as well as in practice, freedom only becomes a right when it is recognized by law." B. Chicherin
"A people with a developed sense of justice should be interested in and cherish their court as the guardian and body of their law and order." B. Kistyakovsky
"The strong power of the coming Russia will not be extra-legal and not super-legal, but formalized by law and serving by law, with the help of law - the national legal order." I. Ilyin
"Society is forced to constantly make efforts to orient its entire legal and political system towards the observance of human rights." J. Maritain
“The law is the right of property based on power; where there is no power, there the law dies.” N. Chamfort
"The law reveals its beneficial effect only to those who obey it." Democritus
"Any atrocity has its own morality that justifies it." W. Schwebel
“I consider it obligatory for everyone to unquestioningly and unswervingly obey the laws.” Socrates
"What is a right and what is an offense, this should be determined by the law." Latin legal saying
"Intention must be subject to laws, not laws to intentions." Latin legal saying
"The presumption is valid until proven otherwise." Latin legal saying
"When the law gives a right, it also gives a remedy for it." Latin legal saying
“In the old days they said that the law lives with freedom like a cat and a dog. Every law is bondage." N.M. Karamzin
“Laws are good, but they still need to be well implemented in order for people to be happy.” N.M. Karamzin
"The law exists in vain for those who have neither the courage nor the means to defend it." T. Macaulay
“The law is not a web through which large flies break through and small flies get stuck.” O. Balzac
“Laws should have the same meaning for everyone.” C. Montesquieu
“Laws are needed not only to frighten citizens, but also to help them.” Voltaire
"The law should be like death, which spares no one." C. Montesquieu
"The cruelty of laws hinders their observance." C. Montesquieu
“Not to be subject to any law means to be deprived of the most saving protection, for the laws must protect us not only from others, but also from ourselves.” G. Heine
"Bad laws are the worst kind of tyranny." E. Burke
"To leave a crime unpunished is to become its accomplice." P. Crebillon
“Law is not a concept of logic, but of force.” R. Yering
“Submission to the law is required by right, and not begged for as a favor.” T. Roosevelt
“It is impossible for a person, as a spiritual being, to live on earth without law” I. Ilyin
"Look into the causes of all licentiousness and you will see that it stems from impunity." C. Montesquieu
"He who defends his right defends the right in general." R. Yering
"He who spares the guilty punishes the innocent." Axiom of law
"The legislator must think like a philosopher and speak like a peasant." G. Jellinek
"The purpose of punishment is not revenge, but correction." A.N. Radishchev
“Terrible lawlessness can be committed under the guise of right over right itself.” R. Yering
"For citizens, the right is the permission to do whatever is not forbidden." L. Tolstoy
"Citizens enjoy the greater freedom, the more cases the laws leave to their discretion." T. Hobbes
“Everything that does not restrict the freedom of other people is allowed, and therefore not prescribed.” G. Hegel
"I see the imminent destruction of that state, where the law has no force and is under someone's authority." Plato
"The foundations of every state and the foundation of any country rest on fairness and justice." As-Samarakandi
"The true equality of citizens consists in their being equally subject to the laws." J. D'Alembert
"We must be slaves to the laws in order to be free." Cicero
“Other crimes are so loud and grandiose that we justify them and even glorify them: for example, we call robbing the treasury dexterity, and we call the unjust seizure of foreign lands conquest.” F. La Rochefoucauld
"Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. But knowledge often liberates. S. Lets
"The reform of morals must begin with the reform of the laws." K. Helvetius
"Unjust laws do not create law." Cicero
"The true equality of citizens is that they are all equally subject to the laws." J. D'Alembert

Essay Topics in Sociology

“Children give their debt to their parents to their children.” I.N. Shevelev
"The family is the crystal of society." V. Hugo
"The family is more sacred than the state." Pius XI
"A woman, like a caryatid, props up the family hearth." I.N. Shevelev
"The roots of nationalism are in the division of the population into indigenous and non-indigenous." I.N. Shevelev
"Each nation - great or small - has its own unique crystal, which must be able to highlight." I.N. Shevelev
"Nationalism is not love for one's own nation, but hatred for another." I.N. Shevelev
"The lack of a sense of national dignity is as disgusting as the other extreme - nationalism." I.N. Shevelev
"The greatness of a people is not at all measured by its number, just as the greatness of a man is not measured by his height." V. Hugo
"I'm too proud of my country to be a nationalist." J. Wolfrom
"A nation does not need cruelty to be steadfast." F. Roosevelt
"No nation can achieve prosperity until it realizes that plowing a field is as worthy an occupation as writing a poem." B. Washington
"Every nationality is the wealth of a single and fraternally united humanity, and not an obstacle in its path." ON THE. Berdyaev
“Nations are the wealth of mankind, these are its generalized personalities; the smallest of them carries its own special colors. A. Solzhenitsyn
"Of all the threads that bind a person to his homeland, the strongest is his native language." I.N. Shevelev
“A nation is a collection of people, different in character, tastes and views, but interconnected by strong, deep and comprehensive spiritual ties.” D. Gibran
“A nation is a community of people who, through a common destiny, acquire a single character.” O. Bauer
"There is not a single real sign for the definition of an ethnos applicable to all known cases." L.N. Gumilyov
"Love all other nations as your own." V. Solovyov
"Classes will disappear as inevitably as they inevitably arose in the past." F. Engels
“Inequality lies in nature itself; it is an inevitable consequence of freedom.” J.Renan
"Inequality is as good a law of nature as any other." I. Sherr
“The equality of man in society has in mind only rights, but it concerns states no more than growth, strength, mind, activity, labor.” P. Vergniaud
“The higher the position of a person, the more strict should be the framework that restrains the self-will of his character.” G. Freitag
"Very rich people are not like you and me." F.S. Fitzgerald
"The same social role is experienced, evaluated and implemented differently by different people." I.S. Kon
"Take the place and position that befits you, and everyone will recognize it." R. Emerson
"Having obeyed the law of the crowd, we return to the stone age." S. Parkinson
"Society is a balance beam that cannot raise some without lowering others." J. Vanier
"Accurate knowledge of society is among our most recent acquisitions." E. Giddens
“Society is not a simple group of individuals, but a system…”. E.E. Durkheim
“Marginality is the result of conflict with social norms.” A. Farzhd
“A mass is a multitude of people without any special merit.” J. Ortega y Gaset
"Freedom is the right to inequality." ON THE. Berdyaev
“It is not good to be too free. It is not good not to know the need for anything.” B. Pascal
"It is easy to preach morality, it is difficult to justify it." A. Schopenhauer
"The process of socialization in simple and complex societies runs differently." I. Robertson
“We make rules for others, exceptions for ourselves.” Sh. Lemel
“Great authority must be used carefully, like all heavy ones: otherwise you can accidentally crush someone.” E. Servus
“Youth is the time for acquiring wisdom.” J.-J. Rousseau
"A person ... acquires a sense of justice very early, but very late or does not acquire the concept of justice at all." I. Kant
"Who knows how to deal with conflicts by recognizing them, takes control of the rhythm of history." R. Dahrendorf
“It is much more important to instill in people morals and customs than to give them laws and courts.” O. Mirabeau

Question: Please help social science Grade 8 workshop 1. Find the definition of the word?? PERSONALITY and SOCIETY in two or three dictionaries. Compare them. If there are differences in the definition of the same word, try to explain them. 2. Read the figurative definitions of society given by thinkers of different times and peoples: “Society is nothing but the result of a mechanical balance of brute forces”, “Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other”, “Society - this is the yoke of the scales, which cannot raise some without lowering others. Which of these definitions is closest to the characterization of society outlined in this chapter? Justify your choice. 3.Make as complete a list of various human qualities as possible (a table of two columns: Positive qualities Negative qualities) Discuss it in class 4 L.N. Tolstoy wrote: "In an immoral society, all inventions that increase man's power over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil." How do you understand the words "immoral society"? Considering that the above thought was expressed more than 100 years ago, has it been confirmed in the development of society over the past century? Justify your answer with specific examples. 5.Uncover the meaning of the Arabic proverb "People are more like their time than their fathers" Think about how society is different in our time from what it was at the time when your parents finished school.

Please help social science Grade 8 workshop 1. Find the definition of the word?? PERSONALITY and SOCIETY in two or three dictionaries. Compare them. If there are differences in the definition of the same word, try to explain them. 2. Read the figurative definitions of society given by thinkers of different times and peoples: “Society is nothing but the result of a mechanical balance of brute forces”, “Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other”, “Society - this is the yoke of the scales, which cannot raise some without lowering others. Which of these definitions is closest to the characterization of society outlined in this chapter? Justify your choice. 3.Make as complete a list of various human qualities as possible (a table of two columns: Positive qualities Negative qualities) Discuss it in class 4 L.N. Tolstoy wrote: "In an immoral society, all inventions that increase man's power over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil." How do you understand the words "immoral society"? Considering that the above thought was expressed more than 100 years ago, has it been confirmed in the development of society over the past century? Justify your answer with specific examples. 5.Uncover the meaning of the Arabic proverb "People are more like their time than their fathers" Think about how society is different in our time from what it was at the time when your parents finished school.

Answers:

A person is a concrete living person with consciousness and self-consciousness. Society of association of people with common interests, values and goals.

TOLSTOY Leo

To be kind and to lead a good life means to give to others more than you take from them. - Lev Tolstoy

To be yourself, to believe and think in your own way - is it so difficult, is it impossible under any circumstances and conditions? .. - Lev Tolstoy

It is impossible to put a substance alien to it into a living organism without this organism suffering from efforts to free itself from the alien substance invested in it and sometimes perish in these efforts. - Lev Tolstoy

There is only one undoubted happiness in a person's life - to live for others! - Lev Tolstoy

In true faith, it is not important to talk well about God, about the soul, about what was and what will be, but one thing is important: to know firmly what should and should not be done in this life. - Lev Tolstoy

In a true work of art there are no limits to aesthetic enjoyment. Whatever a trifle, whatever a line, then a source of pleasure. - Lev Tolstoy

There is a side to the dream that is better than reality; actually there is a side that better dreams. Complete happiness would be a combination of both. - Lev Tolstoy

In a world where people run like trained animals and are incapable of any other thought than to outsmart each other for the sake of mammon, in such a world they may consider me an eccentric, but I still feel in myself a divine thought about the world which is so beautifully expressed in the Sermon on the Mount. It is my deepest conviction that war is only a trade on a large scale, a trade of ambitious and powerful people in the happiness of peoples. - Lev Tolstoy

At my age, you have to hurry to do what you have planned. There is no time to wait. I'm going to death. - Lev Tolstoy

When we are young, we think that there is no end to our memory, our perceptual abilities. By old age, you feel that memory has limits. You can fill your head so much that you can no longer hold it: there is no room, it falls out. Only this is perhaps for the best. How much rubbish and rubbish we fill in the head. Thank God that at least in old age the head is freed. - Lev Tolstoy

In science, mediocrity is still possible, but in art and literature, whoever does not reach the top falls into the abyss. - Lev Tolstoy

In our time, the life of the world goes on its own course, completely independent of the teachings of the church. This teaching has remained so far behind that the people of the world no longer hear the voices of the teachers of the church. Yes, and there is nothing to listen to, because the church only gives explanations of the structure of life from which the world has already grown and which either no longer exists at all, or which is irresistibly destroyed. - Lev Tolstoy

In our time, it cannot but be clear to all thinking people that the life of people - not only Russian people, but of all peoples Christendom, with its ever-increasing need of the poor and the luxury of the rich, with its struggle of all against all, revolutionaries against governments, governments against revolutionaries, enslaved peoples against enslavers, the struggle of states among themselves, west against east, with their ever-growing and absorbing the forces of the people weapons , by its refinement and depravity - that such a life cannot continue, that the life of Christian peoples, if it does not change, will inevitably become more and more miserable. - Lev Tolstoy

In our time, only a person who is completely ignorant or completely indifferent to the questions of life, sanctified by religion, can remain in the church faith. - Lev Tolstoy

In the realm of goodness there are no boundaries for man. He is free as a bird! What prevents him from being kind? - Lev Tolstoy

In the field of sciences, research is considered necessary, verification of what is being studied, and although the subjects of pseudoscience are insignificant in themselves, i.e. everything that concerns the serious moral questions of life is excluded from it; nothing absurd, directly contrary to common sense, is allowed in it. - Lev Tolstoy

The vast majority of letters and telegrams say essentially the same thing. They express sympathy for me because I contributed to the destruction of false religious understanding and gave something that is beneficial to people in a moral sense, and this alone makes me happy in all this - precisely the fact that public opinion has been established in this respect. How sincere it is is another matter, but when public opinion is established, the majority directly sticks to what everyone says. And this, I must say, is extremely pleasing to me. Of course, the most joyful letters are from the people, workers. - Lev Tolstoy

One smile consists of what is called the beauty of the face: if a smile adds charm to the face, then the face is beautiful; if she does not change it, then it is usual; if she spoils it, then it is bad. - Lev Tolstoy

You can't say stupid things in a mouthpiece. - Lev Tolstoy

In the old days they kept slaves and did not feel the horror of this. When you go around the peasants now and see how they live and what they eat, you become ashamed that you have all this ... They have bread with green onions for breakfast. For an afternoon snack - bread with onions. And in the evening - bread with onions. There will be a time when the rich will be just as ashamed and impossible to eat what they eat and live as they live, knowing about this bread and onions, how ashamed we are now for our grandfathers who kept slaves ... - Lev Tolstoy

In clever criticism of art, everything is true, but not the whole truth. - Lev Tolstoy

There is one law in private and public life: if you want to improve your life, be ready to give it away. - Lev Tolstoy

What is the purpose of life? Reproduction of one's own kind. What for? Serve people. And what about those whom we will serve? Serve God? Can't He do what He needs without us? If He commands us to serve Himself, it is only for our good. Life cannot have any other purpose than goodness, joy. - Lev Tolstoy

In an immoral society, all inventions that increase the power of man over nature are not only not good, but an undeniable and obvious evil. - Lev Tolstoy

In the matter of cunning, a stupid person leads smarter ones. - Lev Tolstoy

AT money matters the main interest of life (if not the main one, then the most permanent one) and in them the character of a person is best expressed. - Lev Tolstoy

God lives in every good person. - Lev Tolstoy

In a moment of indecision, act quickly and try to take the first step, even if it is wrong. - Lev Tolstoy

In the periodic forgiveness of sins at confession, I see a harmful deception that only encourages immorality and destroys the fear of sinning. - Lev Tolstoy

In the presence of a Jew, I always feel worse. - Lev Tolstoy

In the very devotion to another being, in the renunciation of oneself in the name of the good of another being, there is a special spiritual pleasure. - Lev Tolstoy

In the best, friendly, and simple relationships, flattery or praise is necessary, as grease is necessary for wheels to keep them moving. - Lev Tolstoy

Bringing people together is the main task of art. - Lev Tolstoy

In the old days, when there was no Christian teaching, for all the teachers of life, starting with Socrates, the first virtue in life was abstinence and it was clear that every virtue must begin with it and pass through it. It was clear that a person who did not control himself, who developed a huge number of lusts in himself and obeyed all of them, could not lead a good life. It was clear that before a person could think not only about generosity, about love, but about disinterestedness, justice, he had to learn to control himself. In our opinion, this is not necessary. We are quite sure that a person who has developed his lusts to the highest degree in which they are developed in our world, a person who cannot live without the satisfaction of hundreds of unnecessary habits that have gained power over him, can lead a completely moral, good life.

In our time and in our world, the desire to limit one's lusts is considered not only not the first, but not even the last, but absolutely unnecessary for leading a good life.

Lev Tolstoy

There are no accidents in fate; man creates rather than meets his destiny. - Lev Tolstoy

While we are the living graves of slaughtered animals, how can we hope for any improvement in the conditions of life on earth? - Lev Tolstoy

It has always been and will always be important only what is needed for the good of not one person, but all people. - Lev Tolstoy

It is not the quantity of knowledge that matters, but the quality of it. Nobody can know everything. - Lev Tolstoy

It is not the quantity of knowledge that matters, but the quality of it. No one can know everything, and it is shameful and harmful to pretend that you know what you do not know. - Lev Tolstoy