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A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts

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One of my favorites! I have a daily process, which includes morning reading of several great works. It didn't take long for this book to rise to the top. Tolstoy has done a great service to mankind through his collection of great insights and wisdom. Nicely translated by Peter Sekirin, this book is a treasure awaiting discovery! Tolstoy put a tremendous effort into his concept of "A wise thought for every day of the year, from the great philosophers of all times and all people." It took him over fifteen years of searching to compile this final version of which Tolstoy himself would consult daily for the rest of his life. Wisdom from the likes of Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, Jesus, Confucius, Emerson, Kant, Ruskin, Seneca, Socrates, Thoreau and many more. Tolstoy's love and passion for his work shines through as he writes in his introduction..."I hope that the readers of this book may experience the same benevolent and elevating feeling which I have experienced when I was working on it's creation, and which I experience again and again when I reread it every day, working on the enlargement and improvement of the previous edition." I am sure that this book will be one of your all time favorites too!

I'm at a loss here to adequately describe my feelings concerning this book. I can see why Leo Tolstoy considered it his greatest contribution. It transcends even his great soul, for it is the cumulative soul of mankind. I am awed by this collection of the highest thoughts of mankinds' greatest representatives. There is such a wide cross-cultural range, yet you sense that all these minds, these souls, were connected by the same "golden thread": Lao-Tsu, Buddha, Socrates, Zoroaster, Manu, Pythagoras, Augustine, Mohammed, Mamononides, etc., etc., etc. I was especially struck by extensive quotes from such Americans as Jefferson, Emerson, Thoreau, even Chief Blackhawk of the Sauk. This is no shallow "new age" conglomeration, it was all carefully and lovingly assembled into a single masterful edifice over a century ago.

I can see now that this volume shall never leave my personal library. Indeed, it may never leave my nightstand. After the horrors and abominations of the day, this book never fails to restore the soul.

Unless of course you are an INFJ personality type- in that case this book IS your soul....

These intellectual and spiritual perspectives organized into bite-sized morsels of wisdom are thematic and tasty. An important part of my daily diet. Ideas and thoughts from diverse thinkers from every epoch of time. A real treat for anyone who believes that to grow we must always try out the ideas of others in our own mind. Think of it as daily mental yoga. A great gift for any age. I am handing them out like Gideon : )

Leo Tolstoy called this his greatest work......I would have to agree. Contained within this book are thoughts from some of the greatest minds of all time. Tolstoy believed that the only true religion is one which everyone could share, and thus he was not one for preaching the dogma of any specific religion. Rather, he takes general ideas from the Bible, Koran, Talmud, Greek philosophy, and Buddhist teachings and on down the line, along with thoughts from great thinkers such as Marcus Aurelius. When one reads this book, they are acutely aware that the religions share much more in common than not. Each page is a days worth of quotes pertaining to a particular theme with one quote highlighted by Tolstoy.

One can read War and Peace and be entertained, but at the end of the day, it is works like this which lend to reflection and making oneself a better person (or trying to become one), which makes this much a more important book. Tolstoy saw this; I believe you will too after reading this.

Tolstoy had a later book written just before his death called Path of Life, which is similar to this in that it is a compendium of great thoughts from great thinkers, but it is not in the 365 day format of this book which makes so easily accessible. BOTH are highly recommended though....they each have a permanent place on my bookshelf.

...laid gradually, day by day. There are still critics of Tolstoy who view his religious phase of life with anything from consternation to disdain. The fact is that he brought a probing intellect as strong as anyone else's in Europe, searing psychological understanding, and voluminous reading to bear on the fundamental questions of life. In this book he collected the wisest sayings he could find on a multitude of topics, plus his own distillations of their wisdom, and arranged them by subject for daily meditation. One effect of this book, which I'm sure Tolstoy desired, was that you'll want to go back to his sources with renewed eagerness. One professional reviewer described this book as "chicken soup for the soul without the schmalz". It's more than chicken soup -- it's the bread of life.

Can it really be -- something new from Tolstoy? Perhaps a forgotten, 1,200-page canvass of history found propping up a broken bedstead at the great man's dacha? Is the mystic count of Russian literature about to have a go -- à la Louisa May Alcott -- at the late-20th century bestseller lists, thanks to a misplaced manuscript? Not quite. Tolstoy's "new" book, "A Calendar of Wisdom," has gone though the printing presses in Cyrillic several times, but has now been translated into English by Peter Sekirin.

"A Calendar of Wisdom" is a collection of quotations culled from world literature and grouped thematically for each day of the year. It is, in Tolstoy's words, "an accumulation of the cultural heritage of our ancestors, the best thinkers in the world."

This book is, by design, popular reading from a great master; it was made, in his words, "to present for a wide reading audience an easily accessible, everyday circle of reading which will arouse their best thoughts and feelings." And, as a book of daily inspiration, it is probably the best of the lot. Whose life wouldn't be bettered by a daily nibble of Shakespeare, Lao Tsu, Ruskin, the Talmud, the Dhammapada, Socrates, Jefferson and a host of small and tall 18th and 19th century thinkers?

Tolstoy's sentiments are truly affecting, simple but not easy prescriptions for daily living. But keep in mind that it was not enough for the count himself, who died -- barely two years after the publication of the last edition of the calendar -- at a lonely train station as he attempted to flee the bonds of his gentrified life.

In these readings life serves up some measures of grief as well as comfort food. It is in fact, Tolstoy's vision. I think of this calendar as Tolstoy's spiritual Rolodex; a kind of truth one can live and prosper with.

This 365 day journey compiled by Tolstoy is a journal that he himself read year after year following his authorship of it. The book contains wisdom from the world's various sacred texts, including wisdom from the Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim traditions, and more. A wonderfully inspiring daily devotional that is perfect for open-minded individuals of all religions. Buy this book!!

This timeless masterpiece is a part of a larger work created by the great novelist and thinker. Tolstoy produced a trilogy of wise thoughts: 1 - "The Calendar of Wisdom," 2 - "Thoughts of Wise Men," 3 - "Wise Thoughts for Every Day."

The last book in this trilogy, "Wise Thoughts for Every Day," was recently published in English by Arcade Publishers (2005) and is another Tolstoy masterpiece worth reading!

The major difference between these two books is the following: "The Calendar" presents aphorisms by Tolstoy's favorite writers and philosophers; and "Wise Thoughts" includes thoughts on the same topics - that is God, love, our life, family, money, faith, etc. - written by Tolstoy himself.

Tolstoy considered this book "more important" than any other book he has ever written, he repeatedly read excerpts from it to his family and friends, and highly recommended it to everyone.

I recently read "The Poet of Tolstoy Park" by Sonny Brewer which is a novel about the life of Henry Stuart. (Fabulous read!) Henry was a professor and disciple of Tolstoy and owned all of his books. When Henry decides to sell everything he owns to move south because of illness, he has to whittle down his considerable library to what he can carry with him! I shudder just imagining how to accomplish such a task.

But this very tome, "A Calendar of Widsom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts" is one of the few books he chose to accompany him on his journey. I was intrigued and had to have the book. (Isn't it funny how life is just one giant cross-reference of books?!)

This is an amazingly rich, thought-provoking compilation of bountiful wisdom from the major religions of the world. Mr. Tolstoy's favorite quotes are in italics on each page and it's fascinating, almost as if Tolstoy is sitting beside me, imparting his wisdom. I think this book will become my bedside favorite and I highly recommend it.

A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy. Scribner, 1997. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ENGLISH, THE LAST MAJOR WORK BY LEO TOLSTOY!!! Created by one of the world's best novelists as a guide for moral living, this beautiful treasure offers, as Tolstoy wrote, "a wise thought for every day of the year, from the greatest philosophers of all times and peoples." Most of the pages were created by Tolstoy himself in 1903-1910 and are dedicated to love, faith, kindness, knowledge, sacrifice, family, meditation, prayer, etc. For Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Russian title "Put zhizni"), was the most important project of his life, a book he proclaimed himself prouder that his materpieces WAR AND PIECE and ANNA KARENINA. Banned by Lenin during 75 years of of the Soviet regime for numerous quotes from the sacred texts of every major world religion, it is again a bestseller in its native land. "I hope that the readers may experience," Tolstoy wrote in 1908, in the preface, "the same elevated feeling which I have experienced when I was working on its creation, and which I experience again and again when I re-read it every day." It is better to know a few things which are good and necessary than many things which are useless and mediocre. -- Tolstoy You should study more to understand that you know little. --Monaigne The reason for rage is always inside of you. -- Tolstoy Bad books is a moral poison which dulls your intelllect. --Shopenhauer Light remains light, even if a blind man cannot see it. -- Tolstoy The translator, Peter Sekirin, is the author of a recent biography, THE DOSTOEVSKY ARCHIVE and is completing his PhD in Russian literature at the Universty of Toronto. END