(1) You can achieve wisdom in three ways. The first way is the way of meditation. This is the most noble way. The second way is the way of imitation. This is the easiest and least satisfying way. Thirdly, there is a way of experience. This is the most difficult way.

(2) When an arrow does not hit its target, the marksman blames himself, not another person. A wise person behaves in the same way

(3) In order to reach spiritual perfection, you should first of all take care of the purity of your soul. This can be reached when the heart looks for truth, and strives for wholeness, and depends on true knowledge.

(4) Wisdom is knowing the purpose of life, and knowing how to achieve it.

(5) Even if people do not know what real kindness is, they nevertheless have it within them.

(6) Be attentive to what you do; never consider anything unworthy of your attention.

(7) The more strictly and mercilessly you judge yourself, the more just and kind you will be in the judgment of others.

(8) The goodness which you do give you pleasure, but not satisfaction. No matter how much goodness you do, you should wish to do more and more.

(9) What is no clear should be cleared up. What is no easy to do should be done with great persistence.

(10) Work toward the purification of your thoughts. Without bad thoughts you will be incapable of bad deeds.

(11) A wise man looks for everything inside of himself; a madman seeks for everything in others.

(12) The journey of the wise to virtue is as a journey to a remote land, or the ascent of a high mountain. People who travel to a faraway place start with a single step, and those who climb a high mountain start from the bottom.

(13) The law of right living is not immediately clear to the wish man, but it becomes much clearer when he follows it. The law of right living is immediately clear to the ordinary person, but it becomes less obvious when he tries to follow it.

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.