A man's every action is inevitably conditioned by what surrounds him and by his own body. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
All the stories and descriptions of that time without exception peak only of the patriotism, self-sacrifice, despair, grief, and heroism of the Russians. But in reality it was not like that...The majority of the people paid no attention to the general course of events but were influenced only by their immediate personal interests. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
All we can know is that we know nothing. And that's the height of human wisdom. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
And from the height of this perception all that had previously tormented and preoccupied him suddenly became illumined by a cold white light without shadows, without perspective, without distinction of outline. All life appeared to him like magic-lantern pictures at which he had long been gazing by artificial light through a glass. Now he suddenly saw those badly daubed pictures in clear daylight and without a glass. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
And what will be there, and what has there been here? Why was I so reluctant to part with life? There was something in this life I did not and do not understand. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
As the sun and each atom of ether is a shphere complete in itself, yet at the same time only a part of a whole too vast for man to comprehend, so each individual bears within himself his own purpose, yet bears it ot serve a general purpose unfathomable to man. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
At moments of departure and a change of life, people capable of reflecting on their actions usually get into a serious state of mind. At these moments they usually take stock of the past and make plans for the future. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
At that moment it meant nothing to him who might be standing over him, or what was said of him; he was only glad that people were standing near him and only wished that they would help him and bring him back to life, which seemed to him so beautiful now that he had today learned to understand it so differently. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
Because of the self-confidence with which he had spoken, no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
But all these hints at foreseeing what actually did happen on the French as well as on the Russian side are only conspicuous now because the event has justified them. If the event had not come to pass, these hints would have been forgotten, as thousands and millions of suggestions and supposition are now forgotten that were current at the period, but have been shown by time to be unfounded and so have been consigned to oblivion. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
But despite the fact that the doctors treated him, bled him, and gave him medicines to drink -- he recovered. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
But she was not even grateful to him for it; nothing good on Pierre's part seemed to her to be an effort, it seemed so natural for him to be kind to everyone that there was no merit in his kindness. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")
But the princess had never seen the beautiful expression of her eyes; the expression that came into them when she was not thinking of herself. As is the case with everyone, her face assumed an affected, unnatural, ugly expression as soon as she looked in the looking glass. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")