Quote Of The Day By Leo Tolstoy: 'And All This Befell Me At A Time When All Around Me...'

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When it comes to Russian writers, there are few, if any, who surpass Leo Tolstoy. English author Virginia Woolf once called him "the greatest of all novelists," thanks to his legendary novel "War and Peace." Some additional famous works by Tolstoy include "Anna Karenina" and "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Through them all, he covered larger societal issues as well as the finer details of everyday life in a way that could be transformative for readers. Tolstoy was born in 1828 to an aristocratic family. His mother, father, and grandmother all died when he was young, and his first major work was a fictionalized version of his younger years — "Childhood" was published in 1852. This came after an attempt at university studies, starting in 1844. Tolstoy wasn't a very diligent student, though he was interested in the writings of novelist Charles Dickens and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 

When it came to his overall studies, he was apparently more interested in gambling and general merriment, and ultimately dropped out in 1847 without a degree. After leaving university, Tolstoy ended up joining the army and fighting in the Crimean War, which played a major role in his beliefs in and writings about radical non-violence. The author's stance on the topic would later influence luminaries like Martin Luther King Jr. Along with his novels, Tolstoy also wrote essays, and through essentially all of his writing, he wrestled with big topics like the meaning of life, love, and death. The acclaimed Russian writer died in 1910; however, the themes of his work live on today. With Tolstoy's wisdom and consideration of what makes life worth living, he's today's chosen quote of the day.

Leo Tolstoy finished writing "Anna Karenina" in the late 1870s, following which he entered a period of personal crisis and depression as the author considered the value of his life and the things he'd done. In the wake of that, Tolstoy turned to religion, and he wrote a short autobiographical book called "A Confession" that outlined the great pain he'd been in and how he sought to find renewed meaning in life. 

Tolstoy was describing how much despair he felt, to the point where life didn't necessarily even seem worth living anymore, when he wrote, "and all this befell me at a time when all around me I had what is considered complete good fortune." The Russian author outlined some of what was going right for him at the time, including his wife, children, estate, and physical health. This feeling is one that some people may recognize — even when things seem to be going well, that isn't always the case.

When you look at Leo Tolstoy's quote and the context in which it was written, the Russian author is outlining how questioning life and its meaning can happen even when things appear to be going well for you. Tolstoy is essentially describing how a midlife crisis or existential angst can hit you completely unawares, and it shows the depths of depression and despair that can lead from it. In a way, this quote also highlights something not to say to someone who is struggling with depression. You don't want to point out if/how things are going well for them since, as we know from Tolstoy, that doesn't really matter when you're in the throes of it. It also goes to show that no matter how well someone might seem to be doing, there could be personal distress that others can't see. 

With that, we should give others grace as much as we can since you never know what someone is really going through. We should also give ourselves grace if we're feeling like Tolstoy did. There is, perhaps, some comfort to be found in the realization that others have had deep concerns over the point of life, and they've found a way through. Ignoring the nagging questions didn't help Tolstoy; he ended up having to address them head on. We may have to do the same. If any of this sounds familiar, it could be a sign that it's a good time to see a therapist. How we come to an understanding of what makes life worth living may be unique, but through it all, at least we know we aren't alone.

• "All happy families resemble each other; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
• "In our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself."
• "I did not myself know what I wanted: I feared life, desired to escape from it, yet still hoped something of it."
• "The truth is obtained like gold, not by letting it grow bigger, but by washing off from it everything that isn't gold."
• "There is not one war in all history, which was not provoked by the governments, by the governments alone, independently of the advantages to the nations, to which war, even if it is successful, is always harmful."