Leo Tolstoy : The Calendar of Wisdom

This was Leo Tolstoy's last major work. With it , he fulfilled a dream he had nourished for almost fifteen years, that of "collecting the wisdom of centuries in one book" meant for a general audience. Tolstoy put a huge amount of effort into its creation. It was his own favourite everyday reading.

In 1884, he had decided to collects ---- "A wise thought for every day of the year, from the greatest philosophers of all times and all people". He wanted to create a circle of reading for himself. According to him - This is also necessary for all people.

In one letter, he had told his assistant that " I know that it gives one great inner force, calmness, and happiness to communicate with such great thinkers as Socrates, Epictetus, Arnold, Parker .......... they tell us what is most important for humanity, about the meaning of life and about virtue............ I would like to create a book ............. in which I could tell a person about his life, and about the Good Way of Life."

You know, Tolstoy had worked for fifteen years to collect these thoughts. He began writing between December 1902 and January 1903. He took the thoughts collected from a very large number of works and collections. He indicated the author of each thought beneath it. In some cases. he translated these thoughts not directly from their original sources, but from a translation from the languages in which they became known to him, so sometimes his translations might not be completely identical to the originals. When he translated thoughts by German, French, or Italian thinkers, he did not strictly follow the original. He had always tried to make it shorter and easier to understand, and omitting some words.

In his book " The Calendar of Wisdom" he has written Golden thougts for every day . He has started from January 1 to December 31.

According to Tolstoy, if everyday people read this thought (only one page everyday) and try to implement it in their life ----- they will really feel good from inside and they will become good human being.

All the thoughts are very alive and fantastic .Here, I am writing one or two of my favourite thoughts from his book "The Calendar of Wisdom" .

1) God exists only for those who looks for him. Start looking : you will find him in you and yourself in him.
Fyodor Strakhov

2) The secret of happiness? Enjoy small pleasures.

Samuel Smiles