Quote by: Leo Tolstoy

How good is it to remember one's insignificance: that of a man among billions of men, of an animal amid billions of animals; and one's abode, the earth, a little grain of sand in comparison with Sirius and others, and one's life span in comparison with billions on billions of ages. There is only one significance, you are a worker. The assignment is inscribed in your reason and heart and expressed clearly and comprehensibly by the best among the beings similar to you. The reward for doing the assignment is immediately within you. But what the significance of the assignment is or of its completion, that you are not given to know, nor do you need to know it. It is good enough as it is. What else could you desire?


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Author Bio


  • NameLeo Tolstoy
  • DescriptionRussian writer
  • AliasesTolstoi; Tolstoy
  • BornAugust 28, 1828
  • DiedNovember 7, 1910
  • CountryRussian Empire
  • ProfessionWriter; Playwright; Philosopher; Novelist; Esperantist; Children's Writer; Educationist
  • WorksWar And Peace; Anna Karenina; A Confession; The Kingdom Of God Is Within You; Sebastopol Sketches; What Is Art?; What Is To Be Done?; Boyhood; Childhood; The Cossacks; The Death Of Ivan Ilyich; Family Happiness; Hadji Murat; The Kreutzer Sonata; Resurrection; The Forged Coupon; Youth; The Fruits Of Enlightenment; The Light Shines In The Darkness; The Living Corpse; The Power Of Darkness; The Devil; Albert; Alyosha The Pot; The Big Oven; Croesus And Fate; Father Sergius; God Sees The Truth, But Waits; The Grain; How Much Land Does A Man Need?; Ivan The Fool (story); Kholstomer; A Lost Opportunity; Master And Man; Promoting A Devil; Quench The Spark; The Raid; Repentance; The Snowstorm; The Three Hermits; Three Deaths; The Three Questions; Too Dear!; What Men Live By; Where Love Is, God Is; Wisdom Of Children; Work, Death, And Sickness