Tolstoy, 1882
Published 2013-01-21
“We were all then convinced that it was necessary for us to speak, write,
and print as quickly as possible, and as much as possible, and that it was all wanted
for the good of humanity. And thousands of us, contradicting and abusing one another,
all printed and wrote— teaching others. And without noticing that we knew nothing, and
that to the simplest of life’s questions: What is good and what is evil? We did not know
how to reply, we all talked at the same time, not listening to one another, sometimes seconding
and praising one another in order to be seconded and praised in turn, sometimes getting angry
with one another— just as in a lunatic asylum… It is now clear to me that this was just as in
a lunatic asylum; but then I only dimly suspected this, and like all lunatics, simply called all
men lunatics except myself.”
-Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 1882
Migration note, 2023-07-07 :
I originally posted this to my blog in 2013, and with Meta’s launch of Threads a few days ago it seems as poignant today as it was in 1882.