It was latter part of his life, Tolstoy had a spiritual awakening.
He became a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist.
There is this Tolstoyan Movement, which is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of this Russian moral philosopher, and religious reformer Leo Tolstoy.
Leo Tolstoy Life Philosophy And Religion Views
Here is a selection of Tolstoy's philosophical and religious views taken from his books.
"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, Introduction, p.xvi)
(The quote is also found in: The Life Of Tolstoy: Later Years By Aylmer Maude, London: Constable And Company, Limited, 1910, p.519)
"Man cannot think of life without a wish for his own welfare... to desire and strive for welfare is to live." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, I, The Fundamental Contradiction Of Human Life, p.16)
(The quote is also found here.)
"The longer a man lives the more clearly he sees that enjoyments become ever less and less, while weariness, satiety, troubles, and suffering, become greater and greater." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, I, The Fundamental Contradiction Of Human Life, p.18)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.18)
"...reason is the law by which reasonable beings-men- must inevitably live." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, I, The Fundamental Contradiction Of Human Life, p.47)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.47
"We know nothing fully except our own life, our aspiration towards good, and the reason which indicates this good to us." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XIII, Our Possibility Of Knowing Objects Does Not Increase In Consequence Of Their Manifestation In Space And Time But In Consequence Of The Fact That We And The Things We Study Are Subjects To One And The Same Law, p.57)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.57)
"...whatever a man may do he will not obtain what is good unless he lives in accord with the law of his life." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XIX, Confirmation Of The Demands Of Rational Conscious, p.78)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.78)
"Life as personal existence has been outgrown by humanity, and it is impossible to return to it and forget that man's personal existence has no meaning." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XXI, What Is Needed Is Not A Renunciation Of Personality, But Its Subjection To Reasonable Consciousness, p.88)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.88)
"Future love does not exist. Love is a present activity only. And a man who does not manifest love in present has no love." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XXIII, The Manifestation Of Love Is Impossible For Those Who Do Not Understand The Meaning Of Life, p.98)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.98)
"Love is only really love when it is a sacrifice of self." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XXV, Love Is The Sole And Complete Activity Of True Life, p.104)
(The quote is also found in: On Life By Leo Tolstoy, A New Translation By Mabel And Agnes Cook, Edited By A. C. Fifield, Christchurch, Hants: Free Age Press, 1902, Ch. XXV, Love Is The Sole And Complete Activity Of The True Life, p.120)
"Man does not know his own death and can never know it: it has never yet touched him and he knows nothing of its intentions." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XXVII, Fear Of Death Is Only Consciousness Of The Unsolved Contradiction Of Life, p.111)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.111)
"Man recognizes that he will not die, only when he recognizes that he was never born, but always has been, is, and will be." - Leo Tolstoy
(On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1934, On Life, XXXII, The Superstition Of Death Arises From Man's Confusing His Different Relationship To The World, p.137)
(The quote is also found in: The Works Of Leo Tolstoy: On Life And Essays On Religion By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, For The Tolstoy Society, 1934, On Life, p.137)
"Rational knowledge, presented by the learned and wise, denies the meaning of life, but the enormous masses of men, the whole mankind, receive that meaning in irrational knowledge. And that irrational knowledge is faith..." - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, VIII, p.55)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publication, Inc., 2005, p.43)
“Faith is the strength of life. If a man lives he believes in something. If he did not believe that one must live for something, he would not live." - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, IX, p.60)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publication, Inc., 2005, p.47)
"To know God and to live is one and the same thing. God is Life." - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1921, A Confession, XII, p.76)
(The quote is also found in: Leo Tolstoy: Spiritual Writings, Compiled And Edited By Charles E. Moore, Orbis Books, 2006, p.58)
"One can only live while one is intoxicated with life; as soon as one is sober it is impossible not to see that it is all a mere fraud and a stupid fraud!" - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, IV, p.23)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2005, IV, p.17)
"Happy is he who has not been born: death is better than life, and one must free onself from life." - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, VI, p.45)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2005, VI, p.35)
“By faith it appears that in order to understand the meaning of life I must repudiate my reason, the very thing for which alone a meaning is required". - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, VIII, p.56)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2005, VIII, p.44)
"...only in faith can we find for life a meaning and a possibility." - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, IX, p.59)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2005, IX, p.46)
“Satan can never be driven out by Satan. Error can never be corrected by error, and evil cannot be vanquished by evil.” - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 1, The Doctrine Of Non-Resistance To Evil By Force Has Been Professed By A Minority Of Men From The Very Foundation Of Christianity, Catechism Of Non-Resistance, p.6)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 1, The Doctrine Of Non- Resistance To Evil By Force Has Been Professed By A Minority Of Men From The Very Foundation Of Christianity, Catechism Of Non-Resistance)
"The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity..." - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 12, Conclusion - Repent For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand, p.161)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom of God Is Within You By Leo Tolstoy, BookRix, 2019, Ch. 12, Conclusion - Repent For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand)
“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already..." - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 3, Christianity Misunderstood By Believers, p. 21)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 3, Christianity Misunderstood By Believers)
"Reasonable knowledge had brought me to acknowledge that life is senseless..." - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, IX, p.59)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2005, IX, p.46)
“...for man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.” - Leo Tolstoy
(A Confession And What I Believe, By Leo Tolstoy, Translated, With An Introduction By Aylmer Maude, London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921, A Confession, IX, p.60)
(The quote is also found in: A Confession By Leo Tolstoy, Translated By Aylmer Maude, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2005, IX, p.47)
“Satan can never be driven out by Satan. Error can never be corrected by error, and evil cannot be vanquished by evil.” - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 1, The Doctrine Of Non-Resistance To Evil By Force Has Been Professed By A Minority Of Men From The Very Foundation Of Christianity, Catechism Of Non-Resistance, p.6)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 1, The Doctrine Of Non- Resistance To Evil By Force Has Been Professed By A Minority Of Men From The Very Foundation Of Christianity, Catechism Of Non-Resistance)
“A man cannot get rid of the responsibility, for his own actions.” - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 1, The Doctrine Of Non-Resistance To Evil By Force Has Been Professed By A Minority Of Men From The Very Foundation Of Christianity, p. 10)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 1, The Doctrine Of Non-Resistance To Evil By Force Has Been Professed By A Minority Of Men From The Very Foundation Of Christianity)
"Even the strongest current of water cannot add a drop to a cup which is already full." - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 3, Christianity Misunderstood By Believers, p. 21)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 3, Christianity Misunderstood By Believers)
“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already..." - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 3, Christianity Misunderstood By Believers, p. 21)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 3, Christianity Misunderstood By Believers)
“There is one thing, and only one thing, in which it is granted to you to be free in life, all else being beyond your power: that is to recognize and profess the truth.” - Leo Tolstoy
(The Kingdom Of God Is Within You: Christianity Not As A Mystic Religion But As A New Theory Of Life, Translated From The Russian Of Leo Tolstoy By Constance Garnett, New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1894, Ch. 12, Conclusion - Repent, For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand, p. 161)
(The quote is also found in: The Kingdom Of God Is Within You, Xist Publishing, 2016, Ch. 12, Conclusion - Repent, For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand)
Note: All the above Leo Tolstoy quotations are verified authentic.
They are all linked to the ORIGINAL sources, and NOT from any third-party content.
You can find Tolstoy's collection of works, that include novellas, novels, plays, short stories, non-fictions, essays, letters and autobiographical writings over here.
For those who know how to read Russian language and love Leo Tolstoy's writings, then you should check out his entire body of works over here.