Leo Tolstoy: Part II
The Quest for Meaning
"Faith is the strength of life. If a man lives he believes in something... Without faith he cannot live." - Leo Tolstoy
By the late 1850s, Leo had achieved remarkable success. A celebrated and wealthy author, he stood with the best of Russian literary society. Yet, beneath the veneer of achievement, Leo felt deeply unsettled. Profound existential questions troubled his mind. What was the purpose of life? What was the nature of truth? How could he reconcile his privileges as a nobleman with the suffering of others? These questions gnawed at him, propelling a quest for understanding and meaning. He would refer to this period of life as his "state of lunacy."
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