Books

Free to read

Leo Tolstoy

13 free books by Leo Tolstoy. 13 you can read right here.

Born 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana · Died 1910 in Astapovo

writer, novelist, poet, playwright, essayist · Russian Empire · associated with literary realism

Notable works: War and Peace, Anna Karenina, A Confession, The Kingdom of God Is Within You, What Is Art?

More on Wikipedia →

Facts from Wikidata (Q7243), retrieved 2026-09-26.

Also by Leo Tolstoy: read here

Quotes from Leo Tolstoy’s books

Verified word for word in the text: each quote is copied exactly from the book’s text in this site’s reader (the Project Gutenberg e-text named under each book) and links to its passage; when this page was built, every quote was checked word for word against that text. How RedLectern is built.

Anna Karenina

From Project Gutenberg e-text #1399 (public domain in the USA).

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Chapter 1Read in context →

If you look for perfection, you will never be satisfied.

— Spoken by a character · Chapter 4

Read in context →

All 14 quotes from Anna Karenina →

War and Peace

From Project Gutenberg e-text #2600 (public domain in the USA).

“If no one fought except on his own conviction, there would be no wars,” he said.

— Spoken by a character · Chapter VI

Read in context →

“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here,” said the spirit of the place.

— Spoken by a character · Chapter XI

Read in context →

All 12 quotes from War and Peace →

The Kingdom of God Is Within You

From Project Gutenberg e-text #4602 (public domain in the USA).

There is one thing, and only one thing, in which it is granted to you to be free in life, all else being beyond your power: that is to recognize and profess the truth.

XII. CONCLUSION--REPENT YE, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HANDRead in context →

The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.

III. CHRISTIANITY MISUNDERSTOOD BY BELIEVERSRead in context →

All quotes from Leo Tolstoy’s books →

All authors →