13Augustавгуста · 13-е августа
Житейская мудрость в том, чтобы жить согласно разуму, хотя бы такая жизнь была осуждаема всеми.
The wisdom of everyday life lies in living according to reason, even if such a life is condemned by all.
1. Когда истина представляется ее врагам в неопровержимой форме, тогда они пускают в ход последнее средство, имеющееся в их распоряжении: это — очернение людей, выражающих истину. Но, закидывая грязью людей, выражающих истину, они лишь покрывают землей семя истины, и оно вырастает тем быстрее.
1. When truth presents itself to its enemies in an irrefutable form, they bring into play the last means at their disposal: the blackening of the people who express the truth. But in throwing mud at the people who express the truth, they only cover the seed of truth with earth, and it springs up all the faster.
From Key Thoughts, in The World's Advance-Thought and the Universal Republic · close to the original .
Lucy Mallory’s own wordsWhen truths that are unanswerable are presented to their opposers, they employ the last weapon in their arsenal--the revilement of the man or woman who speaks those truths. But this heaping of dirt upon the truth-teller is putting the soil on the seed of truth, and it will grow the more readily.
Source text: iapsop.comDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Key Thoughts, in The World's Advance-Thought and the Universal Republic (ed. Lucy A. Mallory, Portland, Oregon), vol. XIV, no. 7, July 1901, p. 101, the column 'Key Thoughts', headed 'Lucy A. Mallory'.
Close, in the same column as 8-3.5. 'When truths that are unanswerable are presented to their opposers' becomes 'When truth is presented to its enemies in irrefutable form'; 'the last weapon in their arsenal' becomes 'the last means at their disposal'; 'the revilement of the man or woman who speaks those truths' becomes 'blackening the people who express the truth' (очернение людей, выражающих истину); 'this heaping of dirt upon the truth-teller is putting the soil on the seed of truth' becomes 'throwing mud at the people who express the truth, they only cover the seed of truth with earth', where 'only' (лишь) is Tolstoy's; 'it will grow the more readily' becomes 'it grows the faster'. The sense is kept throughout, so Mallory's two sentences are offered as the printable.
2. Негодует на нас небо за наши грехи, а мир — за наши добродетели.
2. Heaven is indignant with us for our sins, and the world for our virtues.
Source not found yet .
Tolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньНегодует на нас небо за наши грехи, а мир — за наши добродетели.
Мысль 1 на 10 февраля и мысль 1 на 12 декабря, напечатанная с подписью «Талмуд», в рукописи имеет подпись «Сафир».
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
Not found yet.
«Негодует на нас небо за наши грехи, а мир — за наши добродетели» (heaven is indignant with us for our sins, and the world for our virtues). The same sentence is the first thought of 10 February in Thoughts of Wise Men (1903). The Jubilee vol. 40 commentary says that Tolstoy's manuscript signs it «Сафир», Moritz Gottlieb Saphir (1795-1858), the Viennese humorist, and that the Posrednik edition printed it as «Талмуд»; the Circle keeps the printed signature. Saphir's German was not found, nor anything like it in the Talmud. December met the same confusion (12-31.1, Saphir's 'time stands, it is we who pass', printed «По Талмуду»). The attribution to the Talmud is probably a printer's error carried into the Circle, but without Saphir's text it is not certain.
Searched: Thoughts of Wise Men (1903) and its commentary (Jubilee vol. 40); the Jubilee vols. 41-42; Mivhar ha-Peninim in Hebrew and Ascher's English (1859, Sefaria); web searches in German for Saphir with Himmel, Sünden, Welt, and Tugenden.
3. Не интересуйся количеством, а качеством твоих почитателей: не нравиться дурным — для человека похвально.
3. Be concerned not with the number of your admirers but with their quality: not to please the bad is praiseworthy in a man.
From De moribus · joined by Tolstoy from several places .
Original · LatinNon quam multis placeas, sed qualibus stude.
Malis displicere est laudari.
Source text: thelatinlibrary.comIn English · Craufurd Tait Ramage (no. 8 only), 1864Do not care how many, but whom, you please.
Source text: archive.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньНе интересуйся количеством, а качеством твоих почитателей: не нравиться дурным — для человека похвально.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. De moribus (Proverbia Senecae), nos. 8 and 40.
Two sayings of the collection known as De moribus or Proverbia Senecae, which the Latin Library lists with Seneca's works, bracketed, and heads "Incerti auctoris liber, qui vulgo dicitur De moribus" (a book by an unknown author, commonly called On Morals): no. 8, "Non quam multis placeas, sed qualibus stude" (strive to please not many, but the right kind), and the end of no. 40, "Male de te opinantur homines, sed mali. Malis displicere est laudari" (men think ill of you, but bad men; to displease the bad is to be praised). Word for word from Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), 10 February, signed Seneca, which joins them: «Не интересуйся количеством, а качеством твоих почитателей» (care not for the number but for the quality of your admirers) and «не нравиться дурным — для человека похвально» (to displease the bad is praiseworthy for a man). Each half keeps its sense; "est laudari" (is to be praised) becomes «похвально» (praiseworthy). Ramage prints no. 8 (p. 478, "To Please") among "Publii Syri et aliorum sententiae" (Publilius Syrus and others), not under Seneca, and not no. 40, so Tolstoy took the pair from elsewhere; his source was not found. The signature follows the collection's traditional title; the saved edition calls its author unknown. In Путь жизни Tolstoy expanded the second half («бывает неприятно не нравиться добрым людям, но не нравиться дурным — всегда хорошо»).
Translation note. The Russian italic is broken only at the dash; it is set here as one span.
4. Человеческий разум — это божественный светильник, свет от которого проникает в самую глубь вещей.
4. Human reason is a divine lamp whose light penetrates into the very depths of things.
Probably from Proverbs · reworded by Tolstoy .
Not in Leo Tolstoy as EditorNo source in these words was found; the nearest is Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly,” so the source is only a candidate.
In English · King James Version, 1611The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Source text: gutenberg.orgAnother translation · Книга Притчей СоломоновыхСветильник Господень — дух человека, испытывающий все глубины сердца.
Source text: ru.wikisource.orgDetails
A likely source, not certain. Proverbs (Mishlei), 20:27.
«Человеческий разум — это божественный светильник, свет от которого проникает в самую глубь вещей» (human reason is a divine lamp whose light penetrates into the very depth of things), printed in italics. No source in these words was found. The nearest text is Proverbs 20:27, 'the soul (neshamah) of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the chambers of the belly' (Synodal: «Светильник Господень — дух человека, испытывающий все глубины сердца»; KJV: 'The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly'). If this is the source, 'spirit' becomes «разум» (reason), 'the lamp of the LORD' «божественный светильник» (a divine lamp), and 'searching all the inward parts' «проникает в самую глубь вещей» (penetrates into the very depth of things): the verse's look inward becomes reason's look into the world. December traced another Circle entry, signed «Талмуд», to the first half of the same verse (12-14.2). The link is probable at most, so no correction is offered.
Searched: Thoughts of Wise Men (1903) and the Jubilee vols. 39-43 and 45; Conway's Sacred Anthology (1874), which has only 'Man's best candle is his understanding' among its Old English proverbs; Mivhar ha-Peninim in Ascher's English (1859, Sefaria); a web search for the Russian wording.
5. Если меня гнали, будут гнать и вас; если мое слово соблюдали, будут соблюдать и ваше.
5. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they kept my word, they will keep yours too.
From John · close to the original .
The Russian Bible (Synodal translation)Если Меня гнали, будут гнать и вас; если Мое слово соблюдали, будут соблюдать и ваше.
Source text: ru.wikisource.orgIn English · King James Version, 1611If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Source text: gutenberg.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньЕсли меня гнали, будут гнать и вас; если мое слово соблюдали, будут соблюдать и ваше. Но всё то сделают вам за имя мое, потому что не знают пославшего меня.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. John, 15:20.
The second half of the verse in the Synodal text, word for word, with «меня» and «мое» in lower case. The first half ("Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord") is left out. Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), October 17, has the same words with verse 21 after them.
6. Если мы сидим в движущемся корабле и смотрим на какой-нибудь предмет на этом же корабле, то нам незаметно наше движение; если же мы посмотрим в сторону на предмет, который не движется вместе с нами, например на берег, то мы тотчас же заметим свое движение. То же бывает в жизни. Когда все люди живут не так, как следует, то это незаметно, но лишь только один опомнится и заживет по-божьи, тотчас же становится очевидным, как скверно поступают остальные. И остальные за это гонят его.
6. If we are sitting in a moving ship and look at some object on that same ship, our own motion is imperceptible to us; but if we look aside at an object that is not moving with us, at the shore, for example, we notice our motion at once. So it is in life. When all people live otherwise than they should, it is imperceptible; but as soon as one comes to his senses and begins to live in God’s way, it at once becomes evident how badly the rest are behaving. And the rest persecute him for it.
From Pensées · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changedAs in Tolstoy’s 1903 version, the ship is set out at length, “When all tend to debauchery” becomes “When all people live otherwise than they should,” and he who stops becomes one who “comes to his senses and begins to live in God’s way”; the Circle adds a last sentence found in neither Pascal nor the 1903 text: “And the rest persecute him for it.” †
† An intermediate translation may have made this change.
Original · FrenchQuand tout se remue également, rien ne se remue en apparence, comme en un vaisseau.
Quand tous vont vers le débordement, nul n’y semble aller ; celui qui s’arrête fait remarquer l’emportement des autres, comme un point fixe.
… comme ceux qui sont dans un vaisseau croient que ceux qui sont au bord fuient.
Source text: fr.wikisource.orgIn English · W. F. Trotter, 1910When all is equally agitated, nothing appears to be agitated, as in a ship. When all tend to debauchery, none appears to do so. He who stops draws attention to the excess of others, like a fixed point.
… as people in a ship think those move who are on the shore.
Source text: gutenberg.orgPensées de Pascal, précédées de sa vie par Mme Périer, sa sœurQuand tout se remue également, rien ne se remue en apparence : comme en un vaisseau.
Qui s'arrête fait remarquer l'emportement des autres …
Source text: archive.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньТо же бывает и в жизни. Когда все люди живут не так, как следует, это незаметно, но лишь только один опомнится и заживет по-божьи, тотчас же становится очевидным, как скверно поступают остальные.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Pensées, Brunschvicg 382 and 383 (Section VI); Trotter 382–383; Didot ed. (1863), part I, art. IX, nos. IV and XXVII, pp. 92 and 99.
Pascal's ship (B. 382), retold with the shore of B. 383 and a sentence added. Pascal: when everything moves alike, nothing seems to move, as in a ship; when all go toward excess ('le débordement'; Didot's edition reads 'dérèglement', disorder, which its scan prints 'déréiilement'), none seems to; whoever stops shows up the others' rush, like a fixed point. B. 383 adds the people in a ship who think those on the shore are moving. The Russian sets out the ship at length (we notice our motion only by looking at what does not move with us, «например на берег», such as the shore), turns 'Quand tous vont vers le débordement' into «Когда все люди живут не так, как следует» (when all people live not as they should), and the man who stops into one who «опомнится и заживет по-божьи» (comes to his senses and begins to live in God's way), whose life shows «как скверно поступают остальные» (how badly the rest behave). The Circle repeats Tolstoy's Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), October 18, and adds a last sentence that is in neither Pascal nor the 1903 text: «И остальные за это гонят его» (and for this the rest persecute him). Tolstoy's Pascal in 1903 came from A. I. Orlov's «Французский ученый Влас Паскаль» (Посредник, 1889; Jubilee vol. 40), not found online.
7. Горе вам, если все будут говорить о вас хорошо, — сказал Христос.
Смысл этих слов тот, что не следует нам ставить себе внешнюю цель: угождать людям, подлаживаясь и приноравливаясь к множеству их несовершенных и разноречивых вкусов, хотений и капризов, а что следует поставить себе внутреннюю цель: угождать богу, прислушиваясь и приноравливаясь к его единой и совершенной воле.
И как каменщики могли бы построить здание не тогда, когда вытесывали бы камни, прилаживая их формы к неровностям и особенностям форм других камней, а лишь тогда, когда приноравливали бы их формы к прямоугольнику, так и людям удастся установить царство божие на земле не тогда, когда они будут воспитывать себя и детей своих сообразно разноречивым, изменчивым требованиям молвы людской, а лишь тогда, когда будут совершенствоваться по общим для всех законам добра и правды, узнаваемым при помощи совести и разума.
7. “Woe to you if everyone speaks well of you,” said Christ.
The meaning of these words is that we should not set ourselves an outward aim: to please people, bending and adapting ourselves to the multitude of their imperfect and conflicting tastes, wants, and whims; but that we should set ourselves an inner aim: to please God, listening for and adapting ourselves to his one and perfect will.
And just as masons could put up a building not when they hewed the stones, fitting their shapes to the irregularities and peculiarities of the shapes of other stones, but only when they adapted their shapes to the rectangle, so people will succeed in establishing the kingdom of God on earth not when they bring up themselves and their children in accordance with the conflicting, changeable demands of what people say, but only when they perfect themselves by the laws of good and truth common to all, which are known with the help of conscience and reason.
Source not found yet .
Tolstoy’s own version · Путь жизниГоре вам, если все будут говорить о вас хорошо, — сказал Христос.
Смысл этих слов тот, что нехорошо тому человеку, которого хвалит большинство людей.
Source text: tolstoy.ruRelated · Luke 6:26, Synodal translationГоре вам, когда все люди будут говорить о вас хорошо! ибо так поступали с лжепророками отцы их.
Source text: ru.wikisource.orgDetails
Not found yet.
Not found. As in October to July, no online text of F. A. Strakhov (1861–1923) holds the thought (Christ's “woe to you if all speak well of you” means that we should set ourselves the inward aim of pleasing God by attending to his one perfect will, and not the outward aim of pleasing people by fitting ourselves to their many imperfect and conflicting tastes; as masons could build only by squaring each stone to the right angle and not by fitting it to the irregularities of the others, so people will set up the kingdom of God on earth only by perfecting themselves by the laws of good and truth common to all, known through conscience and reason, and not by the shifting demands of rumor). The Jubilee commentary (vol. 42) says Strakhov read every proof of the Circle and that Tolstoy corrected and much shortened the reflections of his that went into it. A draft for «Путь жизни» (variants to ch. XVI «Тщеславие», no. 88, unsigned) opens with the same sentence and glosses it otherwise: it is bad for a man to be praised by the majority, since the majority always stands on a low step of understanding life (tolstoy). The saying is Luke 6:26; Tolstoy's «Горе вам, если все будут говорить о вас хорошо» (woe to you if all speak well of you) stands for the Synodal «Горе вам, когда все люди будут говорить о вас хорошо!» (woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!), and leaves out the reason, «ибо так поступали с лжепророками отцы их» (for so did their fathers to the false prophets) (related).
Searched: Strakhov's «Вопросы жизни» (Christchurch: Свободное слово, 1903; saved, its old-orthography OCR) for горе вам, камен-, прямоугол-, угожд-, молв-; the saved Jubilee vols. 40, 42 (commentary and name index), 43, and 45 for прямоугольн-, каменщик, «говорить о вас хорошо», «молвы людской», «внешнюю цель», and «законам добра и правды». Earlier months found no online text of his «Искание истины», «Духовный облик человека», or «Умственные течения».
Translation note. Christ’s words are Luke 6:26, where the KJV has “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!”
Ошибочно огорчаться преследованиями, нападками и гонениями против мудрости. Мудрость была бы не мудрость, если бы она не обличала безумие дурной жизни. А люди были бы не люди, если бы они, не переменив свою жизнь, спокойно могли перенести обличения.
It is a mistake to be grieved by the hounding, the attacks, and the persecution directed against wisdom. Wisdom would not be wisdom if it did not denounce the folly of a bad life. And people would not be people if they could, without changing their lives, calmly bear being denounced.
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