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WOODROW WILSON—THE PEACEMAKER
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE
PUBLISHERS
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PUBLISHERS' PREFACE
"THE PATHWAY OF LIFE" is Tolstoy's posthumous message to an erring and suffering worid. Never since the days when Christ's message from Heaven brought life and comfort to a war-torn, sinful and suffering world, has mankind been so eager and ripe for a gospel of right living and right thinking as it is to-day, emerging from the titanic struggle which has so deeply stirred its passions and emotions.
Communing with the minds of the great thinkers and teachers of all ages, Tolstoy in the course of his epic career gathered the pearls of wisdom from the spiritual treasuries of many races and many periods in the history of mankind. These lofty thoughts relating to the spiritual aspirations, the temporal requirements and the moral conduct of man, Tolstoy retold in his own language, arranging them under suitable captions, and interspersing them with the expressions of his own attitude to the problems of life. The resulting monumental work is for the first time presented to mankind in these two volumes. Any new presentation of Tolstoy's work commands the respectful attention of the world. But there is healing of wounds and divine inspiration in "THE PATHWAY OF LIFE" that lend it the added preciousness of significant timeliness.
Filled with the yearning to help his fellow-man struggling against sin, error, superstition and temptation, the sage labored on this compilation down to his last days,
reverting to this labor of love even after the distressing fainting spells that preceded his decease, until, very shortly before his death, in "THE PATHWAY OF LIFE," he succeeded in collating the consensus of human wisdom and genius of all lands and all ages into a modem gospel that bears, the self-evident impress of divine truth and immortality.
The publishers reverently offer this work of Tolstoy to thinking humanity.
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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
Not by way of apology, but by way of explanation, and for the reader's better understanding, the translator feels justified in forsaking for a moment the position of inobtrusive retirement which is characteristic of good translating and supplementing the publisher's preface with a note of his own.
The collection of thoughts on the spiritual problems of life offered in these volumes contains much material that was obviously not intended by the author for publication in its present form. The general arrangement, the sub-headings and all unsigned paragraphs and essays are Tolstoy's own. Many extracts appear to be credited to philosophers and sages of various tongues and periods, but in rendering these into the Russian language Tolstoy followed the original somewhat vaguely, interpreting the idea rather than translating word for w^rd so that in re-translation the wording frequently does not accurately coincide with the original, and the names following these extracts may be taken to indicate their source merely rather than their literal authorship in every instance.
Here and there the reader will find cruuities in expression and even in phrasing. These may be intentional, for Tolstoy loved to use rough-hewn speech in conveying plain ideas, just as he was plain in personal attire and mode of life; or the crudities may be due to the fragmentary nature of some of the material, the editors
having included many memoranda and jottings that the author had no opportunity to go over and revise. The translator feels content to have resisted the temptation of retouching with a profane brush these slight imperfections that can not mar the grandeur of a temple to him who views it as a whole.
In conclusion a grateful acknowledgment is made of the helpful suggestions offered by Dorothy Brewster, Ph. D., who read the manuscript in the translation.
Archibald J. Wolfe,
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AUTHOR'S FOREWORD
The sayings in these volumes ак. ^f varied authorship, having been gathered from Brahmmical, Confucian and Buddhist sources, from the Gospeis and the Epistles, and from the works of^ numerous thinkers both ancient and modern. The greater part of these sayings have suffered some alteration in form either as translated or as re-stated by me, and it is therefore hardly convenient to print them over the signatures of their original authors. The best of these unsigned sayings have their source in the minds of the foremost sages of the world and are not my authorship.
Tolstoy.
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CONTENTS
Vol. I.
Faith IS
God 29
The Soul 45
There is One Soul in All 63
Love 77
Sins, Errors and Superstitions 97
Surfeit 113
Sexual Lusts 127
Sloth 143
Covetousness 159
Anger 173
Pride 189
Inequality 199
Force 213
Punishment ..; 235
Vanity 253
False Religions 267
FAITH
FAITH
In order to live right, man must know what he ought to do, and what he ought not to do. In order to know this, he needs faith. Faith is the knowledge of what man is, and for what purpose he lives with the world. And such is the faith which has been and is held by all rational people.
I.
What is the True Faith?
1. In order to live right, it is needful to understand what life is, as well as what to do and what not to do in this life. These things have been taught at all times by the wisest and best living men of all races. The teachings of all these wise men, in the main, agree as one. This one doctrine common to all people as to what is the life of man, and how to live it, is the true faith.
2. What is this world which has no limits in any direction, the beginning and the end of which are alike unknown to me, and what is my life in this infinite world, and how must I live it?
Faith alone can answer these questions.
3. True religion is to know that law which is above all human laws, and which is the one law for all the people in the world.
4. There may be many false faiths, but there is only one true faith. Kant.
5. If you doubt your faith, it is no longer faith. Faith is only then a true faith, when you do not even
harbor a thought that what you believe could be untrue.
6. There are two faiths: one being confidence in what is said by people—this is faith in a man or in people; such faiths are many and varied.
And diere is die faith in mj dtpeadtnot on Him wbo fOit me into this world. This is faith in God, and sodi faith is ooe for all people.
IL
The Doctrine of Tne Futfa b Always Ckar and Kmple
1. To hare faith is to trust in what is being revealed to us, without asldi^ why it is so, and what will come out of it. Such is the true faith. It shows us what we are, and what we ought to do because of it, but it does not tell us what win be the outcome if we do that which our faith commands us to do.
If I have faith in God, I need not ask what will be the outcome of my obedience to God, because I know that God is love, and nothing can come from love but what is good.
2. The true law of Ufe is so simple, clear and intelligible that men cannot sedc to excuse their evil life by pleading ^porance of the law. If people five contrary to the law of true life, there b only one thing left for diem to do: to abjure their reason. And this is exacdy what diey do.
3. Some say that the fulfilment of the law of God is difficult. This is not true. The law of Ufe asks nodung of us but to love our nei^^ibor. And to love is not difficult, but pleasant Scavoroda.
4. When a man comes to know the true faith, he is like unto a man lighting a lamp ш a dark chamber. All things become clear, and joy enters his soul.
III.
True Faith is to Love God and Your Neighbor 1. "Love one another, even as I have loved you, thus shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have