On Life
Leo Tolstoy
Play
Length 6 h 25 min
Chapters 40
First published 1902
What is the "good life" for us mortal beings? Two months spent recovering from a severe injury allowed Tolstoy to develop and organise his thoughts on the subject. On Life is his philosophical answer where love, religion, and morality come together to ground us in reality. - Summary by Cao Yuqing
Chapters
1
Introduction Read by Richard Vogel 34:32
2
Chapter 2 Humanity has recognized from the earliest days the contradiction of life... Read by Luke Hamilton 9:04
3
Chapter 3 The errors of the Scribes Read by Ian S. Carr 5:15
4
Chapter 4 The doctrine of the Scribes substitutes the visible manifestation of man's animal existence... Read by Luke Hamilton 7:18
5
Chapter 5 The false doctrines of the Pharisees and Scribes no more explain the true meaning of life... Read by Tatiana Chichilla 9:38
6
Chapter 6 The division in the consciousness of the men of our time Read by Luke Hamilton 6:45
7
Chapter 7 The division of consciousness proceeds from the confusion of the animal life with the human Read by marvinch 7:27
8
Chapter 8 The division and the contradiction are only apparent: they are the consequence of false doctrine Read by Luke Hamilton 5:39
9
Chapter 9 The birth of the true life in man Read by jenno 6:13
10
Chapter 10 Reason is the law recognized by man, in conformity with which his life must be perfected Read by Kerry Adams 6:18
11
Chapter 11 False direction of knowledge Read by Luke Hamilton 9:44
12
Chapter 12 The cause of false knowledge is the false perspective in which objects appear Read by jenno 9:01
13
Chapter 13 The possibility of understanding objects increases not in proportion to their manifestation in time and space... Read by Luke Hamilton 10:55
14
Chapter 14 The true human life is not that which is lived in time and space Read by pratibhanair 8:56
15
Chapter 15 The renunciation of the wellbeing of the animal individuality is the law of human life Read by Luke Hamilton 7:32
16
Chapter 16 The animal individuality is the instrument of life Read by colleenomorrow 5:17
17
Chapter 17 Birth by the Spirit Read by Luke Hamilton 3:25
18
Chapter 18 The demands of the reasonable consciousness Read by worldwideput 10:40
19
Chapter 19 Confirmation of the demands of the reasonable consciousness Read by John 10:22
20
Chapter 20 The demands of the individuality appear incompatible with those of the reasonable consciousness Read by ivobrkn18Harrop 5:30
21
Chapter 21 What is required is not renunciation of our individuality but the subjugation of individuality to the reasonable consciousness Read by Michael Fassio 10:01
22
Chapter 22 The feeling of love is the manifestation of the activity of the individuality subjected to the reasonable consciousness Read by John 10:01
23
Chapter 23 The manifestation of the feeling of love is impossible to men who do not understand the meaning of their life Read by Paul Lawley-Jones 16:54
24
Chapter 24 True love is a consequence of the renunciation of the welfare of the individuality Read by Tim Juang 9:43
25
Chapter 25 Love is the sole and complete activity of the true life Read by Tim Juang 7:58
26
Chapter 26 The efforts of men, directed to the impossible amelioration of their existence, deprive them of the possibility of living the one true life Read by Jesse Zuba 7:01
27
Chapter 27 The fear of death is only the consciousness of the unsolved contradiction of life Read by Jesse Zuba 10:06
28
Chapter 28 Carnal death destroys the body limited in space and the consciousness limited in time... Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 14:04
29
Chapter 29 Men fear death because they have restricted life by their false conception, taking a part of life to be the whole Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 7:19
30
Chapter 30 Life is a relationship to the world. The movement of life is the establishment of new and loftier relationships... Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 7:05
31
Chapter 31 The life of men when they are dead does not cease in this world Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 11:57
32
Chapter 32 The dread of death proceeds from man's confusion of his different relationships to the world Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 9:41
33
Chapter 33 The visible life is a part of the infinite movement of life Read by czandra 11:34
34
Chapter 34 The incomprehensibility of the sufferings of earthly existence proves to man more convincingly than anything... Read by Luke Hamilton 20:40
35
Chapter 35 Physical sufferings constitute an indispensable condition of the life and welfare of men Read by Luke Hamilton 11:30
36
Conclusion Read by Kerry Adams 2:44
37
Appendix I Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 5:24
38
Appendix II Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 4:23
39
Appendix III Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 3:30
40
Appendix IV Mr. H. W. Massingham on "Life" Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf 16:36
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org) , the text (opens archive.org) , all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org) .
