The Power of Thought: Selections from “The Pathway of Life” by Leo Tolstoy (vegetarian): Volume 2, Part 2 of 2

Let us continue with the insightful excerpt called ‘Thought’ from Volume 2 of “The Pathway of Life,” where Leo Tolstoy expounds the concept that right living starts with right thinking and how we can train our minds towards this.

“Our habits of thought lend their peculiar hue to all things with which we come in contact. If these thoughts are false, they will render false the most exalted truths. Our habits of thought form something far more substantial for us than the house we dwell in. We carry them about with us even as the snail carries the shell in which it lives. Our desires will not become good until we correct our habits of thought. Habits of thought determine desires. And habits of thought are formed by communing with the results of the wisdom of the best men of the world.”

“Our thoughts, good or evil, send us to paradise or to hell – not in the Heavens or underground, but right here in this life.”

“Do not think that to be wise is the prerogative of some special people only. Wisdom is needful to all men, and therefore all men can be wise. Wisdom is to know wherein is the business of life and how to perform it. And in order to know this, only one thing is needful: remember that thought is a great thing, and therefore think.”

“The Chief Source of Human Ills is Not in Men’s Acts but in Their Thoughts.” “When misfortunes befall you know that they are not due to what you have done, but to what you have thought.”

“More injurious than evil acts are those thoughts which lead to evil acts. An evil act need not be repeated and it can be repented. But evil thoughts give birth to evil deeds. An evil act points the path to other evil acts. Evil thoughts drag you along upon the path to evil deeds.”

“So that a lamp may give steady light, it must be placed where it is protected from the wind. But if a lamp be in a windy place, the light will flicker and cast strange and dark shadows. Even so, uncontrolled, foolish and ill-assorted thoughts cast strange and dark shadows upon the soul of man.”