“A Calendar of wisdom” is a collection of words of wisdom translated from their original source into Russian by Leo Tolstoy. Peter Sekirin later translated these collections from Russian into English. Here are some words of wisdom taken from Sekirin’s translated version.

(1) A scholar knows many books; a well-educated person has knowledge and skills; an enlightened person understands the meaning and purpose of his life.

(2) The only real science is the knowledge of how a person should lives his life. And this knowledge is open to everyone.

(3) Kindness is for soul as health is for your body; you do not notice it when you have it.

(4) If you want to be a clever person, you have to learn how to ask cleverly, how to listen attentively, how to respond quietly, and how to stop talking when there is nothing more to say.

(5) If you have time to think before start talking, think, is it necessary to speak? Will what I have to say harm anyone?

(6) If you love your enemies, you will have no enemies.

(7) When a kind man does not accept his mistakes and tries always to justify himself, he becomes an unkind man.

(8) The best way to live joyfully is to believe that life was given for joy. When joy disappears, look for your mistakes.

(9) A person cannot have complete understanding of the meaning of life. A person can only know its direction.

(10) The greatest knowledge is self-knowledge.

(11) If a person does not believe himself capable of doing the best things in the world, then he starts to create the worst things.

(12) Remember, you do not live in the world, you only pass through it.

(13) You should celebrate each day with a good action, a good deed. This is the best way to start a new day.

(14) When you do a good deed, be grateful that you have had the chance to do it.

(15) Never listen to those who blames others and speak well about you.

Source: “A Calendar of Wisdom : Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul written and selected from the world’s scared tests” by Leo Tolstoy, translated into English from the Russian by Peter Sekirin. Published by Simon and Schuster Inc, USA.