Everything I understand, I understand only because I love.
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 1, ch. 16 (Maude Book 12, ch. 16)
Все, все, что я понимаю, я понимаю только потому, что люблю.
Everything I understand, I understand only because I love.
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 1, ch. 16 (Maude Book 12, ch. 16)
What it means
The dying Prince Andrew reaches this thought. Love is not opposed to understanding; it is how understanding happens. You come to know what you care about.
The source
"Everything I understand, I understand only because I love." Leo Tolstoy said it in War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 1, ch. 16 (Maude Book 12, ch. 16). Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude, 1922.
"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."Louise and Aylmer Maude, 1922, War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 1, ch. 16 (Maude Book 12, ch. 16). Text read at gutenberg.org.
Who said it
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Russian novelist who wrote War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878), then spent his later life on questions of faith and simple living.
Questions
- What does "Everything I understand, I understand only because I love." mean?
- The dying Prince Andrew reaches this thought. Love is not opposed to understanding; it is how understanding happens. You come to know what you care about.
- Who said "Everything I understand, I understand only because I love."?
- Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Source: War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 1, ch. 16 (Maude Book 12, ch. 16).
- What is the original wording?
- All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love (Louise and Aylmer Maude, 1922). Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude, 1922.
- Is "Everything I understand, I understand only because I love." on a shirt?
- Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.
Cite this line
"Everything I understand, I understand only because I love." (Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 1, ch. 16 (Maude Book 12, ch. 16), trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude, 1922). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/everything-i-understand-i-understand-only-because-i
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Wear it your way
The same line in every look it fits. Each one is printed to order on heavy cotton, same price.
More from Leo Tolstoy
- Nothing is stronger than patience and time. They do it all.War and Peace, Vol. 3, Part 2, ch. 16 (Maude Book 10, ch. 16)
- We can know only that we know nothing. That is the height of wisdom.War and Peace, Vol. 2, Part 2, ch. 1 (Maude Book 5, ch. 1)
- There is no greatness without simplicity, goodness and truth.War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 3, ch. 18 (Maude Book 14, ch. 18)
- Thrown out of your usual rut? That is where the new and good begins.War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 4, ch. 17 (Maude Book 15, ch. 17)
- While there is life, there is happiness.War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 4, ch. 17 (Maude Book 15, ch. 17)
- Hardest and most blessed of all: to love this life in your suffering.War and Peace, Vol. 4, Part 3, ch. 15 (Maude Book 14, ch. 15)