“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep,” Robert Frost wrote while contemplating the power of perseverance.
The author of “War and Peace” and one of the greatest international writers, Leo Tolstoy (September 9, 1828-November 20, 1920), complements these lines with a much-needed practical advice, included in his timeless collection of thoughts titled “A Calendar of Wisdom.”
In an entry made on “23rd July,” Tolstoy offers a powerful antidote to despair and shows us how to live through the darkest periods of our lives.
Leo Tolstoy writes:
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We become angry with the circumstances of our life: they make us sad and we want to change them. And yet all possible circumstances of our life are nothing other than indications of the various ways we should react to them. If you are fit and well, then you should make every effort to devote your strengths to serving others; if you are sick, you should try to make sure that your illness does not inconvenience others. If you are rich, then you should do everything you can to rid yourself of your wealth; if you are poor, try not to ask anything of other people. If you have been offended, make an effort to love those who have offended you; and if you have offended someone else, do everything you can to negate the wrong that you have committed.
Complement this timeless advice from “A Calendar of Wisdom” with Aristotle on virtues as habits, Seneca on moderation as a middle of way of restraining ourselves, Marcus Aurelius on choosing compassion over competition, and Mortimer Adler who said, “All things noble are as difficult as they are rare.”
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