I admit that there are many wonderful people among the revolutionaries. They stand out for their character and selflessness, but they do not love God. The religious man will never try to find the answer to the question of what to do for the happiness of mankind, he always knows, at every moment, what he must do.
[About the Jews.] There are two categories: some have all the negative traits, others have all the positive ones.
The intelligentsia is a contemptible clique of which in a few decades not even the name will remain.
[On Russian intellectuals.] They just repeat what Europe said, but they don't think with their own minds.
He who questions whether God exists and what God is, does not have God.
I understand my sister's Orthodoxy, but the Orthodoxy of Solovyov (Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov (1853-1900), Russian philosopher), of Bulgakov (Serghei Nikolaevich Bulgakov (1871-1944)) I do not understand at all. Maria Nikolaevna has that attitude of devotion to God and obedience which is the basis of everything. And if the man doubts, then a mess comes out like in Solovyov.
Nothing diverts a man from his way home more than human praise, the opinion of others about him, and the effort to please men, when in fact we should disregard the opinion of our fellows and live only for God. I don't like praise, I like shame. If I am in a bad mood and read a letter that reproaches me, it upsets me, if I am in a good mood, it makes me happy. It is useful to me, it draws me to God.
No amount of inventions or improvements can lead to moral good.
In artistic works, everything must be natural, believable. When you read, you must live what you read, and then everything is natural, there is no false note, and at the same time there must be a feeling there that moves you constantly. If these two elements meet, then it is natural.
Theater and music have two sides, one is the interpretation, the other is the thing itself. During the performance, the work itself is forgotten, because a good performance overshadows the work. Sometimes the content of the work is confused with the interpretation. The interpretation is good, but the content is not good at all. In music, the chords are wonderful, sometimes you hear some chords that bring tears to your eyes, the technique is amazing, the work is not good, but it makes a strong impression. And these praises and the impression of interpretation spoil the author, who thinks that the praises are addressed to him. If you read the same piece, you will throw it away out of boredom. But when the performance is full of talent you enjoy watching it. The same can be said about music. It is not the same in our profession, in literature and in poetry.
Art must be simple, clear, accessible to the people and, at the same time, permeated by the breath of life. What we write must capture the soul and be clear.
The prayer of the Jews is lamentation, ecstasy.
If there is something good and necessary for people in my writings, they will find their way to people. God has plenty of time.
The only really necessary science, the only knowledge I need, is the knowledge of what I must do, how I must live, to lead my life to the best of my ability. All so-called scientific knowledge that does not lead to the answer to this question is useless. Mathematical knowledge, and partly physical and astronomical knowledge, is attractive and valuable as a means of refining and disciplining the mind. But, admitting this, we must not forget that, as Lichtenberg * says, "the brain's storage capacity is limited."
Sometimes you write useless things only to find that you have to delete them. As long as they remain only in your thoughts, they trouble you, if you put them on paper, you see that they are superfluous.
He who reaches my age does not care whether he lives or dies, he only strives to live his life well, to fulfill the will of God, and then he finds the true religion.
Theosophists go beyond the limits of the mind, define the future life, talk about it from the perspective of time and space. But she is outside these conditions. In Kant we do not find such a thing. Kant distinguishes what reason can and cannot clarify. In Hegel, however, it is a talmes-balmes. You feel that there is no content.
The value of the artist is seen in the wide range of moods he can move. A wide range is the essential quality of the artist, it allows him to go through different feelings, even the lowest, almost animal ones.
I wonder who has a truer picture of the Sun. The peasant who knows where and when the Sun rises and sets and what work he performs until sunset, or the scientist who has no idea of this, but only knows the imaginary line on which the Earth revolves around the Sun.
People who live according to tradition, hypnotized by public opinion, represent 99 percent, those who research represent only one percent.
I always feel that I do not take a step without God, but, I know well, the more clearly you imagine Him, the less you believe in Him.
I have no doctrine. The truth is one in all doctrines. We must eliminate from them only what contradicts the truth.
[On Freemasons.] This is what people call themselves who do not agree with Catholic doctrine.
Self-sacrifice is a prejudice, a false belief.
He who rules the earth will rule the people.
Land cannot be personal property. He who rules the land rules the power.
[On Herzen.] He is the revolutionary of the old type. Herzen is deep, fiery, serious.
[About N. Gogol's statue in Moscow.] When I saw the statue it seemed good. Gogol has the face of a sufferer, of a man who sought God before death, reflects the feeling of suffering.
If you are wise you can bear the lack of knowledge, if you are curious it is difficult.
In the Talmud, narrow nationalist doctrine stands alongside the ultimate truths. Understandably, the former takes up a lot of space, and the latter a little.