classics digests, reflections and reviews
As a great humanist and artist, Tolstoy was deeply aware of and sympathetic to the prevailing feelings of the common people, although he was an eminent member of the Russian aristocracy. In these essays written between 1890 and 1910, the year of his death, the constant theme is the struggle between his conscience and pacifist convictions, and the society of violence from which he could not extricate himself, and for […]
Read more[Warning: The following review may be strongly biased. I read Chesterton’s Heretics and Orthodoxy a long time ago, but retained nothing from them, except that he had sharp wit and good sense of humour; On the other hand, I’m a fan of Tolstoy and read the majority of his works] If Chesterton had reviewed his essay on Tolstoy in a more reflective mood, he would have retracted it. It’s a […]
Read moreTolstoy wrote “Bethink Yourselves” in protest of the Russo-Japanese war, the first of a series of global wars in the 20th century. It happened six years before Tolstoy’s death and ten years before World War I. The title is a reference to verses in the Gospels (Mark 1:5, Luke 13:5, etc), which are alternatively translated as “Repent”. This article and his treatise “The Kingdom of God is Within You” are […]
Read moreA well-balanced, comprehensive account of Einstein’s personal life, scientific visions and achievements, as well as his political beliefs and activism. A good complementary reading to Einstein’s “Ideas and Opinions“. The book presents Einstein not as a genius with a superior brain, but as someone whose awe at the beauty and intelligence of the laws of nature and whose indomitable tenacity to pursue his vision should inspire us all. The most […]
Read moreA Pacifist and Anarchist Manifesto and Masterpiece Tolstoy presented to the readers the essence of Christianity as he himself understood it, namely, the Law of Love, stripped of all superstitions, relics, hypocrisies, mystifying rituals and theological arguments. He expounded in a most logical, thoughtful and comprehensive manner how true Christianity is or should be, mutually incompatible with violence and all forms of government founded on violence, including monarchies, capitalists and socialists. […]
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