Therefore, I am going to quote Tolstoy, basically just to fill up some space. But at the same time, this quote is significant. I wrote my first post, "Beyond Fear and Silence," in a notebook in a four hour stretch, and then the very first thing I read after that session was this quote. I don't mean to elevate Tolstoy to the same level as the Bible, but I did find this quote extremely relevant to what I had just written. Here it is:
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Effort
There is only one way to improve society, which is for all of us to improve ourselves. For this to happen, you need do only one thing: improve your inner self.
Our life's improvement and our fight against evil can begin only with the spiritual development of each individual.
It would be revealing to take a poll of so-called educated people on how we should improve our life. There would be such a great divergence in their answers that it would show the impossibility of improving others' lives. The only way to improve this world is through your own spiritual self-improvement.
It is clear that we will be defeated in our physical life, and we will have to die. We see this with our own eyes and our intellect. This is the law of the world that God wills. The person who understands this stops struggling for the fruits of his physical life and devotes more effort to his spiritual life.
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Personally, I haven't exhausted the physical life yet. I am just beginning to probe and prod it. But his point is well-taken, and I hope to live long enough to understand it well.
There, I've pushed those faces off the top...
