Natasha, with a vigorous turn from her heel on to her toe, walked over to the middle of the room and stood still... Natasha took the first note, her throat swelled, her bosom heaved, a serious expression came into her face. She was thinking of no one...
The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.
everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait . . . there is nothing stronger than these two: patience and time, they will do it all.
Her maternal instinct told her Natasha had too much of something, and because of this she would not be happy
And so there was no single cause for war, but it happened simply because it had to happen
If everyone fought only for his own convictions, there would be no wars.
Everyone thinks of changing the world,but no one thinks of changing himself.
But what is ? What is ? The words and do not denote any really existing thing and therefore cannot be defined. Those words only denote a certain stage of understanding of phenomena. I do not know why a certain event occurs; I think that I cannot know...
Chance created the situation; genius made use of it.
Man is created for happiness, that happiness lies in himself, in the satisfaction of simple human needs; and that all unhappiness is due, not to privation but to superfluity.
he was one of those diplomats who like and know how to work, and, despite his laziness, he occasionally spent nights at his desk.
Power is the sum total of the wills of the mass, transfered by express or tactic agreement to rulers chosen by the masses.
Power is a word the meaning of which we do not understand.
Next day at the review the Tsar asked Prince Andrey where he desired to serve; and Bolkonsky ruined his chances for ever in the court world by asking to be sent to the front, instead of begging for a post in attendance on the Tsar's person.
The higher a man stands on the social ladder, the greater the number of people he is connected with, the more power he has over other people, the more obvious is the predestination and inevitability of his every action.
In the best, the friendliest and simplest relations flattery or praise is necessary, just as grease is necessary to keep wheels turning.
It was only at her prayers that she felt able to think calmly and clearly either of Prince Andrey or Anatole, with a sense that her feelings for them were as nothing compared with her feel of worship and awe of God.
the same question arose in every soul: "For what, for whom, must I kill and be killed?"... p982
