Leo Tolstoy
Translated by
Dmitry Fadeyev
You can only love the one in yourself who is one in all. And to love the one who is one in all means to love God.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
— Matthew 22:36–40
Humankind is alive not because people think of themselves, but because there is love in people.
It is as if God did not want people to live apart and so did not reveal to them what each one of them needs for themselves, and instead wanted them to live together, and so revealed to them what they all need in common.
People think that they live by taking care of themselves, but they live only by love. If there was no love in people, not a single child would grow up, and not a single human being would remain alive.
People live by love; love for oneself is the beginning of death, love for God and other people is the beginning of life.
God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. He who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
— 1 John 4:16, 12, 20, 7, 16
If a person cannot forgive his brother, then he does not love him. True love is infinite, and there is no amount of insults that it would not forgive, if it is true love.
To love someone whom you like is not to love them. To truly love someone means to love in another person that same God that is within you. It is not only your relatives for whom you have such a love, not only those who love you back, but also for the people who are unpleasant and unkind, for those who hate you. To love such people you must remember that the person you are dealing with loves himself just as much as you love yourself, and that the same God dwells within him as within you. If you remember this, you will grow to love him, and if you grow to love him this way, you will find that such love will bring you more joy than the love for those who love you.
Love is not the primary source of our life. Love is a consequence, not a cause. The cause of love is the awareness of the divine, spiritual source within us. This awareness requires love, and it produces love.