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vossie206's review
4.0
My favourite quotes from the book:
It appeared that mankind as a whole had some kind of comprehension of the meaning of life that I did not acknowledge and derided. It followed that rational knowledge does not provide the meaning of life, but excludes it; while the meaning given to life by the millions of people, by humanity as a whole, is founded on some sort of knowledge that is despised and considered false.
According to faith it follows that in order to comprehend the meaning of life I must renounce my reason, the very thing for which meaning was necessary.
Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something. If he did not believe that there was something he must live for he would not live.
Every person comes into the world through the will of God. And God created man in such a wY that each of us can either destroy his soul or save it. Man's purpose ion life is to save his soul; in order to save his soul he must live according to God.
Theology was destroying the thing it should be advancing.
While I am seeking faith, the force of life, they are seeking the best way of fulfilling, in the eyes of men, certain human obligations. And in fulfilling these human affairs they perform them in a human fashion.
It appeared that mankind as a whole had some kind of comprehension of the meaning of life that I did not acknowledge and derided. It followed that rational knowledge does not provide the meaning of life, but excludes it; while the meaning given to life by the millions of people, by humanity as a whole, is founded on some sort of knowledge that is despised and considered false.
According to faith it follows that in order to comprehend the meaning of life I must renounce my reason, the very thing for which meaning was necessary.
Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something. If he did not believe that there was something he must live for he would not live.
Every person comes into the world through the will of God. And God created man in such a wY that each of us can either destroy his soul or save it. Man's purpose ion life is to save his soul; in order to save his soul he must live according to God.
Theology was destroying the thing it should be advancing.
While I am seeking faith, the force of life, they are seeking the best way of fulfilling, in the eyes of men, certain human obligations. And in fulfilling these human affairs they perform them in a human fashion.
rina's review
4.0
What a wonderful little book. I think it would be very suiting to read Tolstoy's "A Calendar of Wisdom" after this.
tobito's review against another edition
5.0
incredible, especially the first half. definitely will re read
h_motionless's review
4.0
A Confession was basically Leo Tolstoy going through a serious existential crisis. It touches on themes like religion, depression, suicidal thoughts, and war, all of which are discussed in a very thought-provoking way. The language is also very accessible, in the translated version by Jane Kentish.
msand3's review
3.0
Tolstoy’s life is fascinating. His fiction (much of which is autobiographical) is enthralling. But his confession is a rather dull and overgeneralized explanation of why he found God. It’s dull because he treats otherwise interesting philosophical questions in a plain, straight-forward way that lacks the verve of his diaries or his fiction. It is overgeneralized because he assumes that all people fit into certain categories that he has defined for himself, attempting to give his personal journey a universal ring. While many readers did end up connecting with Tolstoy’s account and being inspired by his religious conversion, this essay just left me wanting to either pick up his fiction or turn to more interesting biographical accounts.