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Чем свободнее человек от угождения людям, от тщеславия, тем легче ему служить богу, и наоборот.
The freer we are from pleasing men, from vanity, the easier it is for us to serve God, and vice versa.
1. Живи не так, чтобы другие думали о тебе известным образом, а чтобы ты сам думал о себе хорошо.
1. Live not so that others think of you in a certain way, but so that you yourself think well of yourself.
Source not found yet .
Not found yet.
The English was not found. The nearest found is a line of the Key Thoughts of December 1901 (vol. XIV, no. 11, p. 164), 'As long as you think evil of yourself you cannot think good of your neighbors', and an unsigned piece of 1890–91 headed 'Slaves to Opinion', on those who act in fear of what others may say (vol. V, archive.org's scan, whose columns are interleaved); neither is Tolstoy's thought, to live so that one thinks well of oneself rather than so that others think of one in a certain way. Issues of the journal from late 1892 to early 1897, from late 1899 to early 1901, and many after are not online.
Searched: The text layers of IAPSOP's PDFs of the 60 issues online from March 1897 to June 1906, and archive.org's scans of vols. II no. 1, III–VI, XIV–XVI, and XIX–XXII (1887–1909), saved, for 'think well of', 'think good of', 'think highly of', 'what others think', 'what others may think', 'others may say', 'opinion of others', 'good opinion', 'your own opinion', 'self-respect', 'approval', 'live so that', 'so live that', 'live not for', and 'do not live'; Jubilee vols. 37, 40, 43 and 45.
2. Те самые недостатки, которые в других тяжелы и несносны, в нас самих точно и ничего не весят: их не чувствуешь; некоторые, говоря о другом и представляя его в ужасном виде, не замечают, что рисуют самих себя.
Ничто быстрее не исправляло бы нас от наших недостатков, как если бы мы были в силах видеть в других самих себя. На таком расстоянии увидав наши недостатки, каковы они в действительности, мы возненавидели бы их, как они того стоят.
2. The very faults that are heavy and unbearable in others weigh, as it were, nothing at all in ourselves: we do not feel them; some people, speaking of another and portraying him in a dreadful light, do not notice that they are painting themselves.
Nothing would cure us of our faults more quickly than if we were able to see ourselves in others. Seeing our faults at such a distance, as they really are, we would hate them as they deserve.
From Les Caractères, ch. XII, Des jugements · close to the original .
Original · FrenchLes mêmes défauts qui dans les autres sont lourds et insupportables sont chez nous comme dans leur centre : ils ne pèsent plus, on ne les sent pas ; tel parle d’un autre et en fait un portrait affreux, qui ne voit pas qu’il se peint lui-même.
Rien ne nous corrigerait plus promptement de nos défauts que si nous étions capables de les avouer et de les reconnaître dans les autres : c’est dans cette juste distance que, nous paraissant tels qu’ils sont, ils se feraient haïr autant qu’ils le méritent.
Source text: fr.wikisource.orgIn English · Henri van Laun, 1885The same faults which are dull and unbearable in others are in their right place when we have them; they do not weigh us down, and are hardly felt. One man, speaking of another, draws a terrible likeness of him, and does not in the least imagine that at the same time he is painting himself.
If we could see the faults in other people, and could be brought to acknowledge that we possess the same faults, we would more readily amend them; it is when we are at a right distance from them, and when they appear what they really are, that we dislike them as much as they deserve.
Source text: gutenberg.orgAnother translation · Избранные мысли Лабрюйера, перевод Г. А. РусановаТе недостатки, которые в других тяжелы и невыносимы для нас, в нас самих оказываются как бы в самом подобающем для них месте: они не тяготят нас, мы не чувствуем их.
Ничто так скоро не исправляло бы наши недостатки, как если бы мы способны были сознаваться в них себе, видя такие же недостатки в других …
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Les Caractères, ch. XII, Des jugements, § 72 in Van Laun's numbering; text of the Flammarion edition (Paris, 1880).
The whole maxim, translated closely and in two paragraphs as La Bruyère wrote it. La Bruyère's faults that sit in us 'comme dans leur centre' (as in their own centre) become faults that «точно и ничего не весят» (weigh, as it were, nothing). His cure is to 'les avouer et de les reconnaître dans les autres' (confess them and recognize them in others); the Russian has «видеть в других самих себя» (to see ourselves in others). The Circle's Russian is not the one G. A. Rusanov made for Posrednik's selection, which Tolstoy read and added to (Jubilee vol. 40).
3. Успокоение добрых — в их совести, а не в устах людей.
3. The peace of the good lies in their conscience, not on people’s lips.
4. Человек обладает непреодолимым стремлением верить, что его не видят, когда он ничего не видит, — как дети, которые закрывают глаза, чтобы их не увидали.
Очень полезно представить себе то впечатление, которое наша жизнь, наши поступки производят на других.
4. We have an irresistible urge to believe that we are not seen when we ourselves see nothing — like children who shut their eyes so as not to be seen.
It is very useful to picture to ourselves the impression that our life, our actions, make on others.
5. Самое быстрое и верное средство прослыть добродетельным человеком — это работать над собой с тем, чтобы быть им. Рассмотрите все добродетели, и вы увидите, что все они увеличиваются трудом и упражнением.
5. The quickest and surest means of being known as a virtuous man is to work on yourself so as to be one. Examine all the virtues, and you will see that they all grow through labor and practice.
The Conversations of Socrates.
From Xenophon, Memorabilia · close to the original .
What Tolstoy read · Moralistes anciens, ed. L. Aimé-MartinCroyez-moi, mon cher Critobule, le moyen le plus court, le plus sûr, le plus glorieux, de passer pour homme de bien, c'est de travailler à l'être.
Considérez tout ce qu'on appelle des vertus ^ et vous verrez que toutes s'augmentent par l'étude et l'exercice.
Source text: archive.orgOriginal · Ancient Greek… ἀλλὰ συντομωτάτη τε καὶ ἀσφαλεστάτη καὶ καλλίστη ὁδός, ὦ Κριτόβουλε, ὅ τι ἂν βούλῃ δοκεῖν ἀγαθὸς εἶναι, τοῦτο καὶ γενέσθαι ἀγαθὸν πειρᾶσθαι·
… ὅσαι δʼ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀρεταὶ λέγονται, σκοπούμενος εὑρήσεις πάσας μαθήσει τε καὶ μελέτῃ αὐξανομένας.
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comIn English · H. G. Dakyns, 1897No, my dear friend, there is but one road, the shortest, safest, best, and it is simply this: In whatsoever you desire to be deemed good, endeavour to be good.
For of all the virtues namable among men, consider, and you will find there is not one but may be increased by learning and practice.
Source text: gutenberg.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Xenophon, Memorabilia, II.6.39.
Tolstoy translates the French of Moralistes anciens, one of the anthologies on his list of sources, where Xenophon's Memorabilia is titled "Entretiens mémorables de Socrate" (whence the signature «Беседы Сократа», Conversations of Socrates). «Самое быстрое и верное средство прослыть добродетельным человеком — это работать над собой с тем, чтобы быть им» renders "le moyen le plus court, le plus sûr, le plus glorieux, de passer pour homme de bien, c'est de travailler à l'être" ("le plus glorieux" left out), and «все они увеличиваются трудом и упражнением» renders "toutes s'augmentent par l'étude et l'exercice". Xenophon's Socrates, to Critobulus: "the shortest, safest, and best way, whatever you wish to be thought good at, is to try to become good at it; and all the virtues spoken of among men, you will find on examination, grow by learning and practice (μαθήσει τε καὶ μελέτῃ)." The scan reads "vertus ^ et".
6. Осуждают того, кто молчит; осуждают того, кто много говорит; осуждают и того, кто мало говорит. Нет того человека, которого бы не осуждали.
6. They condemn the one who is silent; they condemn the one who talks much; they condemn the one who talks little, too. There is no man whom they do not condemn.
From Dhammapada · shortened by Tolstoy .
What Tolstoy read · The Sacred AnthologyThis is an old saying, 0 Atula ! this is not only of to-day : …
' They blame him who sits silent, they blame him who speaks much, they also blame him who says little : there is no one on earth who is not blamed/
Source text: archive.orgOriginal · PaliNindanti tuṇhimāsīnaṁ, …
… nindanti bahubhāṇinaṁ; …
Mitabhāṇimpi nindanti, …
… natthi loke anindito.
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comIn English · F. Max Müller, 1881227. This is an old saying, O Atula, this is not only of to-day: `They blame him who sits silent, they blame him who speaks much, they also blame him who says little; there is no one on earth who is not blamed.'
Source text: gutenberg.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Dhammapada, v. 227 (Kodhavagga); Conway (1874), no. CCCCLXXXII, Blame, p. 307.
Dhammapada 227 as Conway prints it (Max Müller's translation), without its opening, 'This is an old saying, O Atula, this is not only of to-day.' The rest is close: 'They blame him who sits silent, they blame him who speaks much, they also blame him who says little; there is no one on earth who is not blamed' («Осуждают того, кто молчит; осуждают того, кто много говорит; осуждают и того, кто мало говорит. Нет того человека, которого бы не осуждали»). Thoughts of Wise Men (1903) has the verse (July 16) in another wording, Gerasimov's Russian Dhammapada (1898), which the Circle's August entries follow.
7. Похвальная черта в человеке — это стыдливость: стыдливый не скоро согрешит.
7. A praiseworthy trait in a man is a sense of shame: the man who knows shame is slow to sin.
From Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim · close to the original .
Original · Hebrewמיכן אמרו סימן יפה באדם שהוא ביישן אחרים אומרים כל אדם המתבייש לא במהרה הוא חוטא
Source text: sefaria.orgIn English · S. H. Glick, En Jacob (Ein Yaakov), 1916–21 (via Sefaria), 1921From this passage our sages infer that it is a good sign for a man to be shameful.
Whoever feels ashamed will not be quickened to sin, …
Source text: sefaria.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньПохвальная черта в человеке — это стыдливость, ибо стыдливый не скоро согрешит.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim, 20a (a baraita).
From Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), January 21, with a colon for «ибо» (for). The baraita in Nedarim 20a, on "that his fear may be before your faces" (Exodus 20:20), reads it of shame, and goes on: "hence they said, it is a good sign in a man that he is bashful; others say, whoever is ashamed will not quickly sin." Tolstoy joins the two opinions into one saying: «Похвальная черта в человеке — это стыдливость» (a praiseworthy trait in a man is bashfulness) for the good sign, and «стыдливый не скоро согрешит» (the bashful will not soon sin) for the opinion of the "others". The baraita's last clause, that one without shame is known to have had no ancestors at Sinai, is left out. Tolstoy's Talmud sayings in that book came from his two Russian anthologies, Gurvich's «Живая мораль» (1901) and «Мировоззрение талмудистов» (1874–76) (Jubilee vol. 40 commentary), neither of them online.
8. Никогда не оправдывайтесь.
8. Never justify yourself.
9. Предпочитай чужого человека, любящего правду, своим ближним, не уважающим ее.
9. Prefer a stranger who loves the truth to those close to you who do not respect it.
From Pythagorean Sentences of Demophilus · close to the original .
What Tolstoy read · Moralistes anciens, ed. L. Aimé-MartinPréfère l'étranger qui aime la justice à tes plus pro^ ches parents qui ne la respectent pas.
Source text: archive.orgIn English · Thomas Taylor, "The Pythagoric Sentences of Demophilus", in W. Bridgman, Translations from the Greek (London, 1804), 1804A just man who is a stranger, is not only superior to a citizen, but is even more excellent than a relation.
Source text: archive.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Pythagorean Sentences of Demophilus, no. XX in Moralistes anciens; no. 30 in Taylor.
The printed editions of the Circle had no signature here; the Jubilee editors supplied «Демофил» (vol. 42, list of corrected attributions, June 25, 9). Tolstoy translates the French of Moralistes anciens closely: "Préfère l'étranger qui aime la justice à tes plus proches parents qui ne la respectent pas" (prefer the stranger who loves justice to your nearest kin who do not respect it), with «правду» (truth, right) for "la justice" and «своим ближним» (your own people) for "tes plus proches parents". The Greek sentence, in Taylor's English, says only that a just stranger is better than a citizen and even than a kinsman; the French makes it a command and adds kinsmen who do not respect justice. The Greek (Orelli, Opuscula Graecorum veterum sententiosa et moralia, I, 1819) was not quoted, as the scan's Greek text layer is unreadable. The scan of the French reads "pro^ ches".
Translation note. «Ближние», elsewhere “neighbors,” here means one’s own people, set against the stranger.
10. Назовете ли вы счастливым того человека, который полагает свое счастье в детях своих, в друзьях, в вещах непорочных и гибнущих? В одно мгновение может рухнуть всё его благополучие.
Не признавайте другой опоры себе, кроме вас самих и божества.
10. Will you call that man happy who places his happiness in his children, in friends, in things unstable and perishing? In a single moment all his well-being may collapse.
Recognize no other support for yourselves but yourselves and the Deity.
From Pythagorean Sentences of Demophilus · close to the original .
What Tolstoy read · Moralistes anciens, ed. L. Aimé-Martin… sur ses enfants, sur ses amis, sur des choses fragiles et périssables?
En un moment, toute sa félicité peut s*éYanouir.
Ne connaissez d'autre appui que vousmême et la divinité.
Source text: archive.orgIn English · Thomas Taylor, "The Pythagoric Sentences of Demophilus", in W. Bridgman, Translations from the Greek (London, 1804), 1804… happy who depends either on his friends or children, or on any fleeting and fallen nature ; for all these are unstable and uncertain ; but to depend on oneself and on Divinity is alone stable and firm.
Source text: archive.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Pythagorean Sentences of Demophilus, no. XXIX in Moralistes anciens; no. 40 in Taylor.
Tolstoy translates the French of Moralistes anciens closely: "Appellerez-vous heureux celui qui fonde son bonheur sur ses enfants, sur ses amis, sur des choses fragiles et périssables? En un moment, toute sa félicité peut s'évanouir. Ne connaissez d'autre appui que vous-même et la divinité" (will you call happy the man who founds his happiness on his children, his friends, on fragile and perishable things? in a moment all his felicity may vanish; know no other support than yourselves and the deity). His «в вещах непорочных и гибнущих» (in things immaculate and perishing), as the Jubilee FB2 reads, stands for "des choses fragiles et périssables": «непорочных» is probably a misprint for «непрочных» (fragile), one letter shorter (the printed page was not checked, as the saved PDF's text layer is unreadable). The last sentence starts a new paragraph. Taylor's English of the Greek has "for all these are unstable and uncertain" where the French has the felicity that may vanish in a moment. The Greek (Orelli, Opuscula, I, 1819) was not quoted, as the scan's Greek text layer is unreadable. The scan of the French breaks the sentence across a page ("bon- ... heur") and reads "AppeUerez-votts" and "s*éYanouir", so the first clause is not quoted; the page break in Taylor likewise cuts "You cannot easily denominate that man" from the excerpt.
Translation note. The Russian prints «непорочных», “blameless”; translated as «непрочных», “unstable,” one letter away and the word the sentence calls for.
11. Тщеславие есть чувство самое несообразное с истинною горестью, и вместе с тем чувство это так крепко привито к натуре человека, что очень редко даже самое сильное горе изгоняет его.
Тщеславие в горести выражается желанием казаться или огорченным, или несчастным, или твердым; и эти низкие желания, в которых мы не признаемся, но которые почти никогда — даже в самой сильной печали — не оставляют нас, лишают нас того сострадания, которое обыкновенно вызывает в людях горе ближнего.
11. Vanity is the feeling most at odds with true sorrow, and at the same time this feeling is so firmly grafted onto human nature that even the most intense grief very rarely drives it out.
Vanity in sorrow shows itself in the wish to appear either distressed, or unhappy, or firm; and these base wishes, which we do not admit, but which almost never — even in the most intense sadness — leave us, deprive us of the compassion that a neighbor’s grief usually arouses in people.
К самым добрым поступкам примешивается доля тщеславия, желания похвалы людской. Это желание безвредно только тогда, когда человек может сказать себе, что, заслужи он за свое поведение порицание вместо похвалы, он не изменил бы его.
Mixed into the very best actions is a share of vanity, of the desire for people’s praise. This desire is harmless only when we can tell ourselves that, had we earned censure for our conduct instead of praise, we would not have changed it.
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