"Suffering prepared him for death."

Vladimir Nabokov described Tolstoy as a restless soul torn between desires for physical gratification and super sensitive feelings of right and wrong. Within that one body there were two Tolstoys; Tolstoy the preacher and Tolstoy the artist. But what lived within both the preacher and the artist was a thinker. A thinker in search of the truth about Life and Death. Today’s passage from his novel Anna Karenina reflects Tolstoy’s thoughts on Suffering and Death: 

“Suffering, steadily increasing, did its part in preparing him for death. There was no position in which he did not suffer, no moment when he was oblivious, no part or limb of his body that did not hurt, that did not torment him. Even his body’s memories, impressions and thoughts now evoked in him the same revulsion as the body itself. The sight of other people, their conversation, his own memories….all this was sheer torment to him. Those around him felt it and unconsciously forbade themselves any free movement, conversation, expression of their wishes. His whole life merged into one feeling of suffering and the wish to be rid of it.”

I’m looking forward to bringing you more passages from Tolstoy’s novels and many short stories. Until next time remember that literature has the power to strip away illusions.

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