War and Peace

Favourite Quotes

“Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the society of clever women” p. 16

“The highest wisdom and truth are like the purest liquid we may wish to imbibe. Can I receive that pure liquid into an impure vessel and judge of its purity? Only by the inner purification of myself can I retain in some degree of purity the liquid I receive.” p. 376

“let the dead bury their dead, but while there is life we must live and be happy” p. 499

There is no greatness where simplicity, goodness, and truth are absent.’ p. 1152

“We imagine that when we are thrown out of our familiar rut all is lost, but that is only when something new and good can begin. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us.” p. 1204

“It is not beauty that endears, it’s love that makes us see beauty.” p.1241

Summary

• I did not write a summary when reading this book

Analysis

Notes and Quotes

Politics and War

• Influence in society, however, is capital which has to be economized if it is to last - p.17
  • you must leverage your influence carefully, especially in a political setting. It can run dry just like any source of capital
  • reminds me of Law 6 Court Attention At All Costs
    • if you are a person of power, your very presence is capital and therefore must be used carefully. By appearing mysterious to people you can increase your power/capital even further
• In the actions of a statesman, one has to distinguish between his acts as a private person, as a general, and as an emperor. - p.22
• Vicomte replied to Pierre pt 1 “Liberty and equality - high sounding words which have long been discredited. Who does not love liberty and equality? Even our savior preached liberty and equality. Have people since the Revolution become happier? On the contrary. We wanted liberty, but Bonaparte has destroyed it” - p. 21- 22
• Regarding Napoleon: “Besides he began by attacking Germans. And only idlers have failed to beat the Germans. Since the world began everybody has beaten the Germans. They beat no one - except one another. He made his reputation fighting them.” - p. 110
• ‘French soldiers have to be incited to battle by high-falutin words, and Germans by logical arguments to show them that it is more dangerous to run away than to advance, but that Russian soldiers only need to be restrained and held back!’ p.328
  • Said by Fyodor Rostopchin (1763 - 1826)
• “Every violent reform deserves censure, for it quite fails to remedy evil while men remain what they are, and also because wisdom needs no violence.” p.466
  • violence is never the solution for reform. Purely violent reformations in the past didn’t work well, instead there has to be an intellectual component too, like the Protestant reformation
• “In the organism of States such (cruel) men are necessary, as wolves are necessary in the organism of nature, and they always exist, always appear and hold their own, however incongruous their presence and they proximity to the head of the government may be.” - p.661
  • evil is present in every government
  • I believe this is because of the nature of power. Power can corrupt people and make them evil. So naturally you’ll have evil people in government. Also evil people are attracted to positions of power, hence why they join the government
• “By long years of military experience he knew, and with the wisdom of age understood, that it is impossible for one man to direct hundreds of thousands of others struggling with death, and he knew that the result of a battle is decided not by the orders of a commander-in-chief, nor the place where the troops are stationed, not by the number of cannon or of slaughtered men, but by the intangible force called the spirit of the army, and he watched this force and guided it in as far as that was in his power.” - p. 864
  • army morale is a huge factor to winning battles. You can have the best army, best weapons, and best soldiers, but if your HEARTS aren’t in the battle, you simply will not win
  • a good example of this is the Taliban vs the US. The Taliban don’t have a good army or advanced weapons, but they did have really high morale and a transcending unifying spirit
• “To endure war is the most difficult subordination of man’s freedom to the law of God.” p. 905
  • Meaning, the most lowly thing a man can do by his free will per the law of God is participate in war

Sociology & Psychology

• “Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the society of clever women” - p.16
• “If no one fought except by his own conviction, there would be no wars” - p.27
  • this is because wars are almost always fought by the conviction of a few, or even a single person. Very rarely does a collective go to war over a shared conviction.
• “I don’t in the least understand why men can’t live without wars. How is it that we women don’t want anything of the kind, don’t need it?” - p. 27
  • one could argue that men going to war is deeply ingrained in our biology and psychology. Men have always done it.
• “never marry till you can say to yourself that you have done all you are capable of, and until you have ceased to love the woman of your choice and have seen her plainly as she is, or else you will make a cruel and irrevocable mistake. Marry when you are old and good for nothing …” p. 30
  • this is not a good outlook to have on marriage
• In the context of promises based on honour, Pierre said “all such words of honour are conventional things with no definite meaning, especially is one considers that by tomorrow one may be dead, or something so extraordinary may happen to one that honour and dishonor will be all the same!” - p. 32
• ‘If I were to be severe with her and to forbid it, goodness knows what they might be up to on the sly’ p.45
  • it’s never a good idea to be super strict with your kids for they will just become sneaky
• “People are always too clever with their eldest children and try to make something exceptional of them” p.45
• “Men attribute the greatest merit to skill in killing one another” p.102
  • again this goes back to the fact that war is part of the human condition and goes back millions of years. The Scythians really shows us how much ‘raiding’ and other war-like activity was common by people in history
• “He has not a character like us women who when we suffer can weep away our sorrows. He keeps it all within himself. ” p.421
• Page 499-500, Prince Andrei goes through a re-awakening. After being depressed and living an empty life, he finally found some sort of purpose, and he remembered what Pierre told him, ” ‘We must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy’. Andrei says to himself, ‘let the dead bury their dead, but while there is life we must live and be happy.’ ”
• “The less attractive a woman is the more constant (loyal) she is likely to be” - p.504
• “I understand the deception and confusion (of society), but how am I to tell them all that I see? I have tried, and have always found that they too in the depths of their souls understand it as I do, and only try not to see it”. p. 577
  • this is so relevant to us today. Our society is plagued with deception and confusion and most turn a blind eye to it. Deep down they can see the degeneracy but they try to ignore it or act like it’s okay.
• “to get excited and to have arguments about extraneous matters in order to stifle thoughts that were too oppressive and too intimate.” p.640
  • Pierre, talking about Prince Andrei after news of Natasha’s breaking off the engagement. Later on, Prince Andrei continues this behavior of distracting himself with heavy talks (war, politics). This is clearly to conceal his sadness about the engagement breaking off.
• “Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity”. p. 649
• Regarding Napoleon, ‘It was evident that he had long been convinced that it was impossible for him to make a mistake, and that in his perception whatever he did was right, not because it harmonized with any idea of right and wrong, but because he did it.’ p. 670
  • he was an self-absorbed narcissist.
• “which he felt more acutely the more he tried to conceal its effects.” p.673
  • Regarding Prince Andrei and his sadness about Natasha breaking off the engagement
  • The more you try to ignore/conceal your sadness about something, the more it will hurt as you are just prolonging it. You must rather face it and get over it
• ‘only Germans are self-confident on the basis of an abstract notion - science, that is, the supposed knowledge of absolute truth. A Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally both in mind and body as irresistibly attractive to men and women. An Englishman is self-assured as being a citizen of the best organized state in the world and therefore, as an Englishman, always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing and does not want to know anything since he does not believe that anything can be known. The German’s self-assurance is worst of all, stronger and more repulsive than any other, because he imagines that he knows the truth - science - which he himself has invented but which is for him the absolute truth.’ p. 685-686
  • this is honestly pretty funny… The Russians remind me of Hassan Ibn Sabbah
  • Taking anything as absolute truth is not wise. Absolute truth does not exist, or at the very least is incredibly hard to attain
• “They meet, as we shall meet tomorrow, to murder one another… then have thanksgiving services for having killed so many people… the more people they have killed the greater their achievement. How does God above look at them and hear them? It has lately become too hard for me to live. I see that I have begun to understand too much. And it’s not good for man to taste of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” p. 832
  • tasting the tree represents knowing too much, or in other words, simply knowledge
• ‘Why was I so reluctant to part with life? There was something in this life I did not and do not understand.’ p.872
  • Prince Andrei, as he got injured in the war, he suddenly feels the urge to live
• ‘If there were no suffering man would not know his limitations, would not know himself.’ p. 905
  • suffering is inherently a part of human existence. It is through suffering that we can learn more about ourselves. They say that only through adversity and suffering you can truly know someone.
• ‘(Pierre) was tortured - as those are who obstinately undertake a task that is impossible for them not because of its difficulty but because of its incompatibility with their natures - by the fear of weakening at the decisive moment and so losing his self-esteem.’ p.993
• ‘her position in the house was such that only by sacrifice could she show her worth, and she was accustomed to this and loved doing it.’ p.1029
• ‘When two people quarrel both are always at fault. And your own guilt suddenly becomes dreadfully oppressive before the one who already is no more.’ p.1202
  • Pierre regarding his wife and her death
• ‘We imagine that when we are thrown out of our familiar rut all is lost, but that is only when something new and good can begin. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us.’ p. 1204
  • life always produces happiness. Even people living in the worst circumstances find happiness with each other. The collective love produces happiness.
• ‘They say men are friends when they are quite different.’ p.1205
• ‘Through his reason man observes himself, but only through consciousness does he know himself.’ p.1293
  • when self-reflecting, you must go beyond the surface-level reasoning and instead reach down inside your consciousness to truly find yourself
• ‘A man is only conscious of himself as a living being by the fact that he wills, that is, is conscious of his volition. But his will —which forms the essence of his life— man recognizes (and can only recognize) as being free.’ p.1294
  • the essence of life is our ability to make free choices, to exert free will
• ‘A man having no freedom cannot be conceived of except as deprived of life.’ p.1295

History Notes

• Pierre said ‘Napoleon is great b/c he rose superior to the Revolution, suppressed its abuses, preserved all that was good in it - equality of citizenship and freedom of speech and of the press - and only for that reason did he obtain power … What is important are the rights of man, emancipation from prejudices, and equality of citizenship, and all these ideas Napoleon had retained in full force.’ p.21
• ‘History is the life of nations and of humanity.’ p.1270
• A quick run down on Napoleons wars on page 1272-1273
  • Starts at “Louis XIV was a very proud…”
• ‘The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two as historians have supposed, but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa.’ p.1292

Freemasons

• ‘Freemasonry is the teaching of Christianity freed from the bonds of State and Church, a teaching of equality, brotherhood, and love.’ p.415
• ‘The chief duty of a true mason, as I have told you, lies in perfecting himself. We often think that by removing all the difficulties of our life we shall more quickly reach our aim, but on the contrary, my dear sir, it is only in the midst of worldly cares that we can attain our three chief aims: (1) Self-knowledge - for man can only know himself by comparison, (2) Self-perfecting, which can only be attained by conflict, and (3) The attainment of the chief virtue - love of death. Only the vicissitudes of life can show us its vanity, and develop our innate love of death or of rebirth to a new life.’ p. 468

Faith / God

• “Ah, if we had not religion to console us life would be very sad” p.101
  • religion is a major thing in people’s lives that grounds them and helps them through trauma
• ‘Our divine savior’s words, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, are terribly true. I pity Prince Vasili but am still more sorry for Pierre. So young, and burdened with such riches - to what temptations he will be exposed! If I were asked what I desire most on earth, it would be to be poorer than the poorest beggar’ p.101
• ‘She wept quietly, and felt that she was a sinner; she loved her father and little nephew more than God.’ p. 521
• ‘Misfortunes are from God, and men are never to blame.’ p. 677
• ‘Simplicity is submission to God.’ p.911
• ‘Life is everything. Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God. And while there is life there is joy in consciousness of the divine. To love life is to love God. Harder and more blessed than all else is to love this life in one’s sufferings, in innocent sufferings.’ p. 1145

Forgiveness

• ‘To understand everything is to forgive everything’ p.112
• ‘If you think someone has wronged you, forget it and forgive! We have no right to punish. And then you will know the happiness of forgiving.’ p. 677
  • forgiving someone who has wronged you can be quite rewarding, it feels good inside.

Love

• ‘Compassion, love for our brothers, for those who love us and for those who hate us, love of our enemies; yes that love which God preached on earth and which Princess Marya taught me and I did not understand - that is what made me sorry to part with life, that is what remained for me had I lived.’ p.874 - Prince Andrei
  • Prince Andrei was sad that he was injured and was scared of dying. Why? He didn’t know… until he made the above realization. How did he come to this realization? He saw Anatole Kuragin (guy who attempted to kidnap Natasha, his lover) also suffering from injuries, and Andrei wept for him. It is this love, love of your brothers and your enemies, which caused Andrei to want to keep on living.
• ‘it was impossible to picture a future with princess Marya, because he did not understand her but simply loved her.’ p. 1027, regarding Nikolai Rostov
  • Rostov earlier said he could picture a future with Sonya, because he understands her and knows all there is to know, but that isn’t the case with Marya
• ‘She thought her life was ended, but her love for her mother unexpectedly showed her that the essence of life —love—was still active in her. Love awoke, and so did life.’ p. 1162
  • this underlines the central idea in this book; that life produces love, and love produces life
• ‘She had all that people are valued for, but little that could have made him love her. He felt that the more he valued her the less he loved her.’ p.1227
• ‘We don’t love people so much for the good they have done us, as for the good we have done them’ p.113
  • Quoted from Laurence Sterne (a great influence on Tolstoy)
• ‘I experienced that feeling of love which is the very essence of the soul and does not require an object. Now again I feel that bliss. To love one’s neighbors, to love one’s enemies, to love everything, to love God in all His manifestations. It is possible to love someone dear to you with human love, but an enemy can only be loved by divine love. That is why I experienced such joy when I felt that I loved that man… When loving with human love one may pass from love to hatred, but divine love cannot change. No, neither death nor anything else can destroy it. It is the very essence of the soul.’ p.989 - Prince Andrei
  • ‘that man’ is referring to Prince Anatole
  • divine love is significantly more powerful than human love
• ‘my love has no aim but the happiness of those I love.’ p.1028
  • by seeing your loved ones happy, it makes you happy and full of love
• ‘You know that for me there is nothing in life but you, and to suffer with you is the greatest happiness for me.’ p. 1159-1160
  • your love for someone can be so great that suffering with them brings you happiness. Honestly, anything meaningful brings happiness, and often times suffering is incredibly meaningful
• ‘It is not beauty that endears, it’s love that makes us see beauty.’ p.1241

Other Quotes

• ‘Desire nothing for thyself, seek nothing, be not anxious or envious. Man’s future and thy own fate must remain hidden from thee, but live so that thou mayest be ready for anything. If it be God’s will to prove thee in the duties of marriage, be ready to fulfil His will.’ p.235
• ‘Who is right and who is wrong? No one! But if you are alive - live: tomorrow you’ll die as I might have died an hour ago. And is it worth tormenting oneself, when one has only a moment of life in comparison with eternity?’ p. 341
  • life is fleeting; don’t get carried away with the silly things
• ‘The highest wisdom and truth are like the purest liquid we may wish to imbibe. Can I receive that pure liquid into an impure vessel and judge of its purity? Only by the inner purification of myself can I retain in some degree of purity the liquid I receive.’ p. 376
  • a pure soul is necessary to receive pure truth
• ‘Turn all your attention upon yourself, put a bridle on your senses, and seek blessedness not in passion (desires) but in your own heart.’ p. 384
• ‘I lived for others, and not almost, but quite, ruined my life. And I have become calmer since I began to live only for myself.’ p. 411 - Prince Andrei
  • Andrei defines ‘others’ as ones neighbors and relatives, while your immediate family are considered part of you so they are included in ‘myself’
• ‘(I) know for certain, that the enjoyment of doing this good (serving others) is the only sure happiness in life.’ p.411
  • serving others (community contribution) is how you can become happy
• Very good dialogue starting on last paragraph of page 411, til end of para 1 pg 412
• ‘If there is a God and future life there is truth and good, and man’s highest happiness consists in striving to attain them. We must live, we must love, and we must believe that we live not only today on this scrap of earth but have lived and shall live for ever, there, in the Whole’ p. 416
  • happiness is a product of striving to attain truth and good
• ‘If man could find a state in which he felt that though idle he was fulfilling his duty, he would have found one of the conditions of man’s primitive blessedness.’ p. 522
• ” ‘They are all alike!’ he said to himself, reflecting that he was not the only man unfortunate enough to be tied to a bad woman.” p. 634
• ‘All things come to he who knows how to wait.’ p. 798
• ‘there is nothing stronger than those two, patience and time, they will do it all.’ p.799
• ‘He who excuses himself accuses himself.’ p.803
• ‘Our body is a machine for living… let life go on in it unhindered and let it defend itself, it will do more than if you paralyze it by encumbering it with remedies.’ p.844
• ‘There is no greatness where simplicity, goodness, and truth are absent.’ p. 1152
  • earlier in the book simplicity is defined as submission to God - p. 911
• ‘To a lackey no man can be great, for a lackey has his own conception of greatness’ p.1170
• ‘If that activity displeases somebody, this is only because it does not agree with his limited understanding of what is good.’ p.1217
• ‘It really seemed that Sonya did not feel her position trying, and had grown quite reconciled to her lot as a sterile flower.’ p.1236
  • Sonya’s situation was pretty bad. Essentially used her whole life, and never thanked, but she was always grateful and rarely ever resentful. This possibly indicates she never saw her situation as tough (as said in the quote). Also, everything was taken away from her, like Nikolai Rostov, yet she continued to serve his family.

Main Idea of the Book / Key Themes

• the central idea in this book is that life and love are inextricably linked. Life produces love and love produces life. Love can help you keep going in life. And when you see life thriving you are filled with love and happiness
• ‘We imagine that when we are thrown out of our familiar rut all is lost, but that is only when something new and good can begin. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us.’ p. 1204
• Prince Andrei goes through a re-awakening. After being depressed and living an empty life, he finally found some sort of purpose, and he remembered what Pierre told him, ” ‘We must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy’. Andrei says to himself, ‘let the dead bury their dead, but while there is life we must live and be happy.’ ” p. 499-500