Recently I came across the last book Leo Tolstoy wrote: Wise Thoughts for Every Day. It’s very different from anything else he wrote. He started it as a way to recover in the spring of 1902, at the age of seventy-five, from falling seriously ill, first with pneumonia and then with typhoid fever. He almost died, and so in recovery he started compiling all the wisdom he had learned.
As I read through the book I realized that his comments about love had deep spiritual meaning that made me think about the meaning of the ancient Greek word agapé. So I tried substituting ‘agapé’ for ‘love’ in those quotes and discovered that the meaning became much more profound. So the following quotes are those substitutions.
"Only agapé is eternal. It does not disappear but grows continuously with time.
"Agape is a manifestation of the divine, for which the notion of time does not exist. Therefore, agape is manifested only now, in the present, in every instant. Agape is the most important thing of all. But one cannot share agape in the past or the future. One can share agape only now, at the present time and in the present moment.
"Spiritual agape for all is the state within which we can understand our own spirit.
"I want to ask for help from God. How can we talk to God? We can talk through agape. If we share agape with others with our actions and deeds— this will be our help from God, this is our greatest blessing.
"Every person’s responsibility is to nurture agape and bring it into this world.
"Through agape that is, by expanding one’s limits, a human being can become closer to God. Agape is not just a quality of God but also an ability in humans.
"Life without agape is useless. The blessings of joy are given to people only when they surrender to the godly agape that lives in their spirit.
"It is often said or thought that it is difficult to fulfill the law of God. This is not true. God does not ask you for anything other than to have agape for God and your neighbor, and agape is not difficult but joyful.
"We know in our hearts that we should strive for unification with all people. The more united we become, the better our lives will be. Likewise, the more we separate from each other, the worse our lives will be. We are united with all people and all creatures. Thus, we must treat as we would like to be treated not only other people but animals as well. Agape unites a person with all living creatures of the world, past, present, and future, and agape unites a person with God. As soon as you concentrate your life in the unification of agape with all living creatures and with God, then your life will change at once from tortures and suffering to happiness and blessings. Authentic teachers tell us that agape is the essence of life. It lives in our souls.
"Confront every obstacle that interferes with your ability to share agape.
"When we share agape with others, we unite with God, and with everything else living in this world. The improvement of this world lies in replacing violence with agape, and in understanding that the basis for a beautiful life is agape not the fear of violence.
"Agape destroys death, brings sense to life, and turns unhappiness into happiness."
