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Quotation from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

“it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist, and to recognize a dependence of which we are not conscious.”

Leo Tolstoy (spoken by Narrator)

War and Peace, Second Epilogue, Ch. XII, trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude

Portrait of Leo Tolstoy

The final words of the book, concluding Tolstoy's comparison of free will in history with the apparent stillness of the earth in astronomy.

Citation: "it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist, and to recognize a dependence of which we are not conscious." — Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Second Epilogue, Ch. XII, trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude. (id tolstoy-war-and-peace-q8)

Portrait: L.N.Tolstoy Prokudin-Gorsky, Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, Public domain.

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Quote card: it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist, and to reco