Wise Thoughts for Every Day: On God, Love, the Human Spirit, and Living a Good Life by [Leo Tolstoy, Peter Sekirin]
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Length: 384 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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About the Author
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), a giant of world literature, is the author of many classics, including War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
Peter Sekirin was born in Russia and holds a Ph.D. in Russian Literature from the University of Toronto. He has been working at the Center for Russian Studies at the University of Toronto since 1999. His works include The Dostoevsky Archive, a biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky; the English-language translations of Tolstory's The Calendar of Wisdom; and On the Sea and Other Stories: Early Short Stories of Anton Chekhov. He works as a research associate at the University of Toronto and lives in North York, Ontario.
Product details
File Size: 881 KB
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Arcade; Reprint edition (July 1, 2011)
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Top Reviews
John Hicks
4.0 out of 5 stars Third in a Trilogy
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2018
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The trilogy:
1. The Thoughts of Wise Men (1903);
2. A Circle of Reading (1906), first published in English in 1997 by Scribner under the title A Calendar of Wisdom; [Roger Cockrell]
3. Wise Thoughts for Every Day, or For Every Day (1909), recently rediscovered in Russia and now published in English for the first time. [Peter Sekirin]
Both Cockrell and Sekirin give a selection, not the entire text. The second, Circle of Reading, translated and selected by Roger Cockrell, was by far the largest of the three.
I have just gotten both.
The second in the trilogy (Cockrell) mixes comments by Tolstoy with quotes from his reading (Lichtenberg, Cicero, Angelus Silesius...).
The third in the trilogy (Sekirin) gives Tolstoy's own thoughts, with few quotes from other authors. Tolstoy created thirty topics for the thirty days in the month (Greed and Wealth, Pride, Judgment and Punishment, There is No Evil...). He repeats those thirty topics each month with further thoughts.
The Cockrell and the Sekirin come to roughly the same length.
I'm glad to have both. Too soon to say, but at first glance I lean to the Cockrell for variety, although the thirty topics in the Sekirin look promising, and this was Tolstoy's third and final attempt at this sort of thing.
If you like one you'll want the other.
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2 people found this helpful
Elizabeth R A Triano
5.0 out of 5 stars Aptly Named
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016
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I have had a copy of this book for years, and honestly I don't read it often enough. The days when I do remember to pick it up and look at the day's reading almost always work out to be better, whether because the reading cheers or inspires me, or it connects me to something else also of value. It's such a little thing and it does so much good.
It's fun, too, because it is of course a product of a man of a certain time and place. So while some of the readings seem timeless in their wit, wisdom, and inspiration, others are absurd or even bizarre. Even those, however, give us something to think about. This is a book full of risks as well as rewards. It is not a book of safe generalities and platitudes.
2 people found this helpful
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IdahoWoman
5.0 out of 5 stars Would recommend
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2018
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This is an interesting little daily meditation book, a singular expression of many eternal/spiritual truths from diverse sources, seemingly distilled through personal experience and perhaps random inspiration of some kind. Some of his thoughts seem ‘dated’ now (for lack of a better term), others WAY ahead of their time, all thought provoking and grounding. The translation is not overly formal making it approachable.
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Brian Kerecz
5.0 out of 5 stars A necessary book for anyone reflecting on what makes life meaningful
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2006
Tolstoy's Wise Thoughts for Every Day differs from his other works such as A Calendar of Wisdom written in the last ten years of his life, in that in this book nearly all of the passages are from Tolstoy himself, rather than taken from other texts or people, so we really and truly get an idea on Tolstoy's view of life and how it should be lived. Each day has a subject (such as God, Faith, Pride, One Soul in All) around which the thoughts revolve, with the subjects repeating each month.
While this book is, for all intents and purposes, a book of spiritual writing, it is also a work which anyone could easily pick up and read, as the thoughts are philosophical in nature as well, making this work first and foremost a composition on how to live a good life. That was the goal of Tolstoy in the latter part of his life when he spent copious amounts of time writing these books- to make them accessible to anyone and to help them improve their lives. He believed the only true religion is the one which all people can share.....and for this to happen it has to be simple, and not complicated by arbitrary or overly complex rules. Like all of Tolstoy's great writings, this work shows most strikingly his thorough understanding of the nuances of human character, and the flaws which lie within. Whether one agrees or disagrees with what is contained within Wise Thoughts for Every Day, one cannot help but be taken aback by Tolstoy's grasp of the deficiencies and imperfections innate in mankind.....and also the vast potential for good.
One of the great achievements of this book is the fact that Tolstoy is giving us information on how to live our lives while in the final years of his own. There is a very nice description of the last works of Tolstoy's life in the front pages of the book, allowing us to see his works chronicled in the final ten years leading up to his death, something heretofore I had not seen in such detail. Tolstoy's early years were devoted to creating timeless classics such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The latter part of his life was devoted to and consisted entirely of spiritual works after his religious awakening. These included both spiritual/fictional short stories and non-fiction works such as this, after his near suicide at the age of 51. The latter works of his life do not receive the notoriety they deserve, at a time when the world needs such ideas desperately.
When one has a toothache, one goes to the dentist to have it tended to. When one wants a greater understanding of life and of our place in the universe, one can pick up Wise Thoughts to read. As Tolstoy has said innumerable times, the ideas contained in this book are imprinted on our hearts if only we would listen to our soul. Speaking for myself though, from time to time it is nice to have someone make them clear for us. In this regard, Tolstoy does this most impressively, creating a book which is apposite to anyone deliberating on the meaning of life.
A must have for all lovers of Leo Tolstoy's non-fiction writing.
Highly Recommended.
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16 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolstoy a spiritual Activist
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2017
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Tolstoy was ahead of his time. While having real motivation for justice over corruption and mistreatment of those in his communities he really wasn't ( IMHO) an activist for government change as mush as he was an activist for spiritual change. Honest and uplifting.
One person found this helpful
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Brian Kerecz
5.0 out of 5 stars A necessary book for anyone reflecting on what makes life meaningful
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2006
Tolstoy's Wise Thoughts for Every Day differs from his other works such as A Calendar of Wisdom written in the last ten years of his life, in that in this book nearly all of the passages are from Tolstoy himself, rather than taken from other texts or people, so we really and truly get an idea on Tolstoy's view of life and how it should be lived. Each day has a subject (such as God, Faith, Pride, One Soul in All) around which the thoughts revolve, with the subjects repeating each month.
While this book is, for all intents and purposes, a book of spiritual writing, it is also a work which anyone could easily pick up and read, as the thoughts are philosophical in nature as well, making this work first and foremost a composition on how to live a good life. That was the goal of Tolstoy in the latter part of his life when he spent copious amounts of time writing these books- to make them accessible to anyone and to help them improve their lives. He believed the only true religion is the one which all people can share.....and for this to happen it has to be simple, and not complicated by arbitrary or overly complex rules. Like all of Tolstoy's great writings, this work shows most strikingly his thorough understanding of the nuances of human character, and the flaws which lie within. Whether one agrees or disagrees with what is contained within Wise Thoughts for Every Day, one cannot help but be taken aback by Tolstoy's grasp of the deficiencies and imperfections innate in mankind.....and also the vast potential for good.
One of the great achievements of this book is the fact that Tolstoy is giving us information on how to live our lives while in the final years of his own. There is a very nice description of the last works of Tolstoy's life in the front pages of the book, allowing us to see his works chronicled in the final ten years leading up to his death, something heretofore I had not seen in such detail. Tolstoy's early years were devoted to creating timeless classics such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The latter part of his life was devoted to and consisted entirely of spiritual works after his religious awakening. These included both spiritual/fictional short stories and non-fiction works such as this, after his near suicide at the age of 51. The latter works of his life do not receive the notoriety they deserve, at a time when the world needs such ideas desperately.
When one has a toothache, one goes to the dentist to have it tended to. When one wants a greater understanding of life and of our place in the universe, one can pick up Wise Thoughts to read. As Tolstoy has said innumerable times, the ideas contained in this book are imprinted on our hearts if only we would listen to our soul. Speaking for myself though, from time to time it is nice to have someone make them clear for us. In this regard, Tolstoy does this most impressively, creating a book which is apposite to anyone deliberating on the meaning of life.
A must have for all lovers of Leo Tolstoy's non-fiction writing.
Highly Recommended.
Read less
16 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolstoy a spiritual Activist
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
Tolstoy was ahead of his time. While having real motivation for justice over corruption and mistreatment of those in his communities he really wasn't ( IMHO) an activist for government change as mush as he was an activist for spiritual change. Honest and uplifting.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
Comment Report abuse
See all reviews from the United States
