Quote of the Day by Leo Tolstoy: "Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of..."

Leo Tolstoy was one of the most popular English novelists. He was born in Russia in 1828. He is known for lengthy novels like War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He lived a long life full of personal problems, military service, and deep spiritual changes. He died in 1910.Tolstoy was born at Yasnaya Polyana, his family's estate south of Moscow in Russia. His mother died when he was two years old, and his father died when he was nine. He and his siblings were then taken care of by relatives. He was very close to his aunt Tatyana Yergolskaya when he was a child. He said they were a time of innocence, even though he lost people around him. He went to Kazan University but dropped out in 1847 because he was having trouble with his classes and started drinking and gambling. From 1853 to 1856, Tolstoy fought in the Crimean War. He was in Sevastopol during terrible sieges. He became famous for writing Sevastopol Sketches about the harsh realities of war, which showed how well he could see things. After the war, he traveled around Europe. In Paris, he saw a public execution that scared him and made him question authority and violence. He married Sophia Behrs when he was 34 years old and she was 18 years old. They had 13 kids, but only eight of them lived to be adults. Sophia took care of the house and copied his manuscripts by hand while he wrote.War and Peace and Anna KareninaIt was War and Peace which takes inspiration from real events from Napoleon's invasion of Russia that really made him an iconic international name. It has more than 500 characters and is about love, war, and fate. Anna Karenina (1875–1877) was another book that became extremely popular. It is about a woman's affair and downfall and a landowner's search for meaning. The famous line is "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."Tolstoy wrote in a realistic way, using simple, clear language that sounded like real life. He made scenes come to life and seem real by using a lot of details about everyday things like nature, clothes, and thoughts. He blended history, philosophy, and stories in a way that was natural, like in War and Peace, where big wars and family dramas come together. People who don't like his work say it feels real, not like artifice. Virginia Woolf called him the best novelist.Later life and philosophyAround 1877, Tolstoy had a hard time with his faith. He doubted the meaning of life, didn't believe in church dogma, and followed Jesus' simple teachings, like not fighting back against evil. This led to books like The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), which had an effect on Gandhi's ideas about nonviolence. He became a pacifist, vegetarian, and critic of the state, property, and church. In 1901, the Orthodox Church kicked him out. He gave away his rights, lived simply, and opened schools for poor people. His extreme views destroyed his marriage. He left home in secret in 1910, got pneumonia on a train, and died at Astapovo station on November 20.Quote of the dayThis quote from Tolstoy's writings, which are often linked to his thoughts after reading Jean-Jacques Rousseau, says, "Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know." Tolstoy belonged to a time that witnessed massive changes. It saw wars, the end of serfdom, and a boom in science. Through these lines, he wants to express that it is not necessary that one should know about everything under the sun. One may not be a scholar who has studied everything but a man with practical wisdom who knows the solution to everyday issues that could make his life simple and easy. More than vast knowledge, the right kind of knowledge is important. In the end, the quote tells us to be careful. Life is short, so go after what makes you better, like relationships and morals, not facts that never end. Tolstoy lived it, flaws and all, showing that wisdom is better than theory.