Leo Tolstoy
Circle of Reading
Translated by Dmitry Fadeyev

February 14

The Spirit of God dwells within us.

1

Unless one is born anew, he cannot see God’s Kingdom.

— John 3:3

2

The intellect can only become clear in a good human being. A human being can only be good when his intellect becomes clear. The one helps the other. And thus, if the intellect does not help one lead a good life, it is not real intellect. And if one’s life does not help the intellect, then it is not a good life.

— Chinese wisdom

3

A merchant, having married a princess, built her a palace, bought her many expensive dresses, gave her hundreds of servants, and tried to do everything to make her happy. But the princess was bored and kept thinking about her royal blood. It is the same with the human soul. One can surround it with all the earthly pleasures, and it will long for its home, for the source from which it came—for God.

— The Talmud

4

Even though people do not know what the good is, they still possess it within themselves.

— Confucius

5

There lived in ancient Rome a sage called Seneca. He did not know Christ and his teaching, but he understood life the same way as Christ. Here is what he wrote to his friend: “You are doing the right thing, dear Lucius, by relying on your own efforts to keep yourself in good spirits. This is something that every human being can always do. For this we do not need to raise our hands to the heavens or ask a guard at a temple to allow us get closer to God so that he could hear us better. God is always close to you, he is within you. Yes, dear Lucius, I assert that the Holy Spirit is within us, watching and witnessing everything good and bad. He treats us the way we treat him. If we take care of him, he takes care of us.

“God dwells within every good human being.”

6

Just as you do not see the human soul, you do not see God, but you perceive him in his creations. Likewise, you cannot not recognize the divine power of the soul, which manifests itself in its eternal pursuit of perfection.

— Seneca


God dwells within every one of us. Nothing restrains a human being from doing evil and helps him do good as much as keeping this in mind.