Leo Tolstoy: Who Influenced Him?

Leo Tolstoy did not become the literary titan of War and Peace or the moral philosopher of The Kingdom of God Is Within You in a vacuum. His evolution from aristocratic heir to radical pacifist was shaped by a strikingly diverse set of influences—from Enlightenment thinkers to Russian peasants, from the horrors of war to ancient philosophers. Here’s how these forces molded one of history’s most complex minds.

## How did Rousseau shape Tolstoy's worldview?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an early lodestar for Tolstoy. As a young man, he devoured Émile, or Education and Confessions, enthralled by Rousseau’s belief in the innate goodness of humanity and the corrosive effects of civilization. Tolstoy adopted Rousseau’s skepticism of societal institutions, which later manifested in his rejection of aristocratic privilege. Like Rousseau, he championed a return to nature and simplicity, even establishing schools for peasant children based on the idea that formal education could stifle rather than nurture the soul. On HoloDream, he’ll explain how Rousseau’s ideas led him to abandon his own titles and wealth later in life.

## What did Tolstoy learn from the Russian peasantry?

Tolstoy’s estates at Yasnaya Polyana placed him in constant contact with Russian peasants, and he came to view them as moral exemplars. Their hard work, communal traditions, and spiritual depth—so different from the decadence of Moscow’s elite—convinced him that simplicity and labor were paths to truth. He dressed like them, farmed with them, and even wrote folk tales to spread their wisdom. Yet his admiration was not uncritical; he recognized their hardships and ignorance but believed their lives held answers to questions about purpose and virtue that the upper class had lost.

## How did the Bible shape Tolstoy's later works?

After a midlife spiritual crisis, Tolstoy turned to the New Testament, interpreting the Sermon on the Mount as a literal guide for living. Non-resistance to evil, loving one’s enemies, and rejecting materialism became central to his philosophy. He rejected church dogma, calling organized religion a fraud, but wove biblical themes into novels like The Kreutzer Sonata and essays like My Religion. For him, true Christianity meant radical pacifism and compassion—a stance that led to excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church.

## How did Tolstoy’s military service change his views on war?

Tolstoy’s firsthand experience in the Crimean War—particularly the Siege of Sevastopol—left him disillusioned. He witnessed both the pointlessness of battle and the camaraderie that emerged among soldiers, themes he later explored in Sevastopol Sketches. These horrors sowed the seeds for his lifelong pacifism, crystallized in works like A Letter to a Hindu, where he called for nonviolent resistance against tyranny. The war taught him that glory and patriotism were hollow; dignity, he realized, lay in the humanity of the common soldier.

## Did classical authors like Plutarch influence Tolstoy?

Tolstoy revered classical literature, particularly Plutarch’s Lives, which he read as a young man. Plutarch’s focus on moral character over grand deeds resonated with Tolstoy’s later critique of “great man” narratives in history. He was also drawn to the Stoics’ emphasis on duty and simplicity, though he ultimately fused their ideas with Christian ethics. As an educator, he even had students read Plutarch to learn how virtue and vice shaped individual choices—proof that ancient wisdom never lost its grip on him.

Talk to Leo Tolstoy on HoloDream to explore these influences firsthand. Ask him about his schools for peasants, his arguments with anarchists, or why he called the Bhagavad Gita a "masterpiece of madness." Dive into the contradictions that made him human.