In episode 002, I discuss the lessons from Confession by Leo Tolstoy. I read this during one of my darkest periods, almost seven years ago. This work reshaped my perspective on success and purpose.
‘Confession’ provided a profound view, revealing that the relentless pursuit of superficial and material success inevitably leaves you hollow. Tolstoy’s introspective journey cautions you against the pitfalls of a narrow definition of success but also serves as a compass, guiding you toward a more meaningful and purposeful life.
Check out the episode.
10 Lessons
Learn to master your passions. “Man’s task in life is to save his soul. In order to save our souls, we must live according to the ways of God, we must renounce the sensual pleasures of life, we must labor, suffer, and be kind and humble.”
Face your mortality. “The wise man seeks death all his life, and for this reason, death is not terrifying to him.”
Choose your friends carefully. “They accepted me as one of their own, heaped flattery upon me. Before I could turn around, the views on life peculiar to the writers with whom I associated became my own, and before long all my previous efforts to become better were completely at an end. Having no discipline myself, I let these views justify my life.”
Humility is the first step to finding meaning. “When I rose early in the morning to go to the church service I knew I was doing something good, if only because I was sacrificing my physical comfort to humble the pride of my intellect, to be closer to my ancestors and contemporaries, to seek the meaning of life.”
Live in harmony with others to find happiness. “He should earn his life in exactly the same way the animals do but with this one difference: that he will perish if he does it alone—he must live his life not for himself but for all. And when he does this, I am firmly convinced that he is happy and his life is reasonable.”
You must have faith in something larger in order to live. “Faith is the knowledge of the meaning of human life, whereby the individual does not destroy himself but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must have faith in something. If he did not believe that he had something he must live for, then he would not live.”
Remember everything dies, so live accordingly. “Everything in the world—both folly and wisdom, wealth and poverty, joy and sorrow—all is vanity and emptiness. A man dies and nothing remains.”
You’ll never find the answer to the question of life in quantitative science or speculative philosophy. “The less they have to do with the questions of life, the clearer and more precise they are; the more they attempt to provide answers to the questions of life, the more vague and unattractive they become.”
No amount of fame or material success will satisfy your longing for meaning. “I had already tasted the temptations of authorship, the temptations of enormous monetary rewards and applause for worthless work, and I gave myself up to it as a means of improving my material situation and as a way of stifling any questions in my soul concerning the meaning of my life and of life in general”
The search for meaning is satisfied by something infinite and everlasting. “It was obvious that the resolution of all the possible questions of life could not satisfy me because my question, no matter how simple it may seem at first glance, entails a demand to explain the finite by means of the infinite and the infinite by means of the finite.”
Background: Confession
Leo Tolstoy attained a level of success that few reached, with enormous wealth, an estate spanning 16,200 acres, a mansion, and 300 horses. Two of his books, ‘War & Peace’ and ‘Anna Karenina’ were considered masterpieces, and he was already regarded as one of the greatest novelists in world literature before the age of 50.
Today, you see the wealthy wanting to become influencers and influencers wanting to become wealthy. Yet Tolstoy had both.
And it’s here that we pick up ‘Confession.’ Not a memoir nor a novel, but Tolstoy’s personal spiritual-philosophical reflection as he struggles with existential despair and the question of the meaning of life.
I could not attach a rational meaning to a single act in my entire life… My deeds, whatever they may be, will be forgotten sooner or later, and I myself will be no more. Why, then, do anything? How can anyone fail to see this and live? That’s what is amazing! It is possible to live only as long as life intoxicates us; once we are sober we cannot help seeing that this is all a delusion, a stupid delusion! Nor is there anything funny or witty about it; it is only cruel and stupid.
For a full breakdown, listen to the episode I made about ‘Confession’ on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, or Google Podcast.