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A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts Hardcover – October 14, 1997

by Leo Tolstoy (Author), Peter Sekirin (Editor)
4.5 out of 5 stars 1,103
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This collection of daily thoughts to nourish the soul from the world’s sacred texts by Leo Tolstoy feature gems of inspiration and wisdom—author Thomas Keneally calls this book “transcendent, and that we are grateful he lived long enough to endow us with his grand inheritance.”

This is the first-ever English-language edition of the book Leo Tolstoy considered to be his most important contribution to humanity, the work of his life's last years.

Widely read in pre-revolutionary Russia, banned and forgotten under Communism; and recently rediscovered to great excitement, A Calendar of Wisdom is a day-by-day guide that illuminates the path of a life worth living with a brightness undimmed by time.

Unjustly censored for nearly a century, it deserves to be placed with the few books in our history that will never cease teaching us the essence of what is important in this world.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Scribner
  4. Publication date
    October 14, 1997
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1.1 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0684837935
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0684837932
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sekirin's translation is accurate and graceful." - The Slavic and East European Journal.
"A bedside companion." - USA Today.
"A surprisingly powerful book." - The Washington Post.
"War and peace, and quiet." Harper's Magazine, New York.
"A great gift." -- Russian Life Magazine (Montpelier, Vermont).
"New & Noted An editor's selection." - The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ont.
"Nourish your soul with calendar offerings" - Detroit Free Press.
"Even if you don't quite get the whole 'Fifty Shades of Grey' thing. Maybe with
Tolstoy's 'Calendar of Wisdom'? " - Boston Globe.
"Drawing on deep thinkers - it lights up the reader's life." - Kingston Whig - Standard.
"More war than peace in a triumphant finale." - The Times, London (UK).
"Fables and wisdom nuggets." - Tolstoy Studies Journal.
"A self-help book." - Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"This book will inspire." - The Sun, London (UK).
"SPIRITUAL SEEKERS FIND VOLUMES FOR THE SOUL." - Seattle Times.
"Nourish your soul with calendars offering daily doses of wisdom." - The Detroit News.
"Gems of inspiration." - Greensboro News Record, Greensboro, N.C.
"Simplicity and wisdom." - The Vancouver Sun.
"Tolstoy's last major work. . . . An important book." - Library Journal.
"Tolstoy by halves." - Publishers Weekly.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner; 37982nd edition (October 14, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684837935
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684837932
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.1 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,103

About the authors

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  1. Leo Tolstoy

    Leo Tolstoy

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    Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote two of the great novels of the nineteenth century, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Peter Sekirin

    Peter Sekirin

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    Peter Sekirin has a Ph. D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto. Peter is the author of three literary biographies, and the translator of Chekhov's and Tolstoy's several major works, published for the first time in English.

    Peter translated and edited the "Calendar of Wisdom", the last major work by Leo Tolstoy which the great novelist considered to be "the most important work"; Tolstoy kept it on his desk, and re-read it on a daily basis for the last 7 years of his life. Peter condensed and simplified an extensive philosophical "Calendar" of over 1200 pages into a short gift book of 365 pages, with one page of brief inspirational quotations for each day of the year. The lengthy 3 page long excerpts from the Bible and various German philosophers like Kant and Schopenhauer were replaced with Tolstoy's thoughts on topics such as vegetarianism, happiness, and simple way of life, taken from other editions of his Calendars. These rare works of wise thoughts selected by Tolstoy and published in Moscow in numerous volumes from 1901 to 1908 with several editions (heavily revised by Tolstoy) was the only source of Peter's compilation. "Calendar of Wisdom" has been translated into five languages: Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, German, and Spanish.

    The other three literary biographies by Peter Sekirin on Chekhov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy were based on the first-hand memories of the writers' friends and family members, and were collected from numerous archives and rare periodicals of the late 19th - early 20th century.

    Peter has written numerous articles published in American Speech, Linguistics, and History of Literature. He worked for eight years as Research Associate at CREES Department at the University of Toronto. Peter lives in Aurora, Ontario with his wife and two children.

    "Divine and Human" (Zondervan - Harper Collins, 2000)

    "Wise Thoughts on God and Love" (Arcade - Hachette, 2007).

    "Chekhov Stories of Crime and Suspense" (Pegasus Books, 2010)

    "In My Own Words" (Hodder and Stoughton, UK, 2003)

    "Calendar of Wisdom" (Scribner, 1997, 4th printing 2019)

    Peter is the author of three literary biographies:

    "Memories of Chekhov" (2011), a new biography of a great playwright,

    "Americans in Conversation with Tolstoy" (2005) a collection of essays, and

    "The Dostoevsky Archive" (1977, 2nd ed. 2013), about one the world's best novelists.

    http://megapolis2001.wix.com/petersekirin

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,103 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States

Steve K
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
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Inspiring and beautifully written!
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Frank Voehl
5.0 out of 5 stars Get This One on Your Calendar Today
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2014
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Leo Tolstoy once called this book his greatest work because there are contained within this book some thoughts from many of the greatest minds that Tolstoy admired. He believed that the only really true enduring religion is one which all people could share, and accordingly he was not one for preaching the dogma of any specific religion, by taking general ideas from the Bible, Koran, Talmud, Greek philosophy, and Buddhist teaching, along with thoughts from great thinkers such as Marcus Aurelius. When one reads this book, they are acutely aware that these deep thinkers and their religions share much more in common than in conflict.

Readers beware that Tolstoy is not directly quoting these people,; he is more or less paraphrasing them in his own words and style to make them more readable and pertinent. Each page is a days worth of quotes pertaining to a particular theme with one quote highlighted by Tolstoy. A weakness is that it has omitted his Weekly Messages, each one consisting on 5-10 pages, which make the whole document a more complete package as a whole (perhaps one day these too will be translated into English as a companion book).

What I like about this book most of all is using it as a day-by-day guide to illuminate one's own path of a life, which is worth living with a brightness undimmed by time. Another useful feature is that for each day one paragraph is in italics to condense the essence of the author's teachings for that day -- providing the essence of the day's thought.

A real treasure and a worthwhile read.
28 people found this helpful
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Roberto H
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book that can be better
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2009
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This is a fantastic work, loaded with spiritual wisdom. Anyone who admires Tolstoy's beliefs or his writing should read it. The topics and sources are widespread and worthwhile.

My only gripe is that each daily page is not very well organized. Many pages include both a few quotes from various sages along with commentary by Tolstoy. The only problem is that it's very hard to tell where Tolstoy's thoughts end and someone else's begin. The editors could have made that a little easier to follow.

Also, many times the source of the quote will say something like "after Marcus Aurelius" or "after Cicero." I would have benefitted from an explanation of what "after" means. Are these Tolstoy's thoughts immediately after reading these men?

Despite the who's saying what dilemma, I loved reading this book. Highly recommend.
7 people found this helpful
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Seattle Tom
5.0 out of 5 stars A Calendar of Wisdom is the correct title for this journal!
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2024
Verified Purchase
Really have enjoyed this calendar so far in 2024. It has a nice mix of authors converging on and discussing a topic daily. Very well done. Recommend!
One person found this helpful
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axfv
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2024
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I’m looking forward to reading and re-reading this for the rest of my life.
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Christian Sandel
3.0 out of 5 stars The Binding Quality is Poor
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024
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Due to the poor binding quality, I will be lucky to read this book once without it falling to pieces. Before I started reading it, I reinforced the spine with packing tape because it is going to fall apart. I would send it back, but I really want to read this book.
One person found this helpful
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ROBERT HENSSLER
5.0 out of 5 stars Bit of Daily Philosophy
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2024
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Bit of Daily Philosophy
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Top reviews from other countries

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CESAR
5.0 out of 5 stars The materia of the hard book is very good
Reviewed in Mexico on July 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book si excelente to grab a few words of spiritual and wisdom inspiration
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Shubham
5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate guide to life!
Reviewed in India on January 7, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is one of the few books a person could read for their entire life.Just turn the page to todays date,read the page repeat for rest of your life and you sure will get wiser.
4 people found this helpful
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Dan A
5.0 out of 5 stars Book cover cheesy, but content of the book is wonderful
Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2020
Verified Purchase
Filled with gems, wisdom, and questions to make you ponder and show you the way. A bit on the pricey side, even if buying used, but much much better than anything you would ever find on some self help or business book list.
2 people found this helpful
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Fouad Benzina
5.0 out of 5 stars Merci
Reviewed in France on January 14, 2020
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Bon emballage, Livre de bonne qualité
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Mitchell Todd Troop
2.0 out of 5 stars Inspect before shipping pease
Reviewed in Japan on February 27, 2021
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The delivery was fast but quality control poor. Either someone didn’t notice the discolored glue stuck all over the bottom of the book or just didn’t care.
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Mitchell Todd Troop
2.0 out of 5 stars Inspect before shipping pease
Reviewed in Japan on February 27, 2021
The delivery was fast but quality control poor. Either someone didn’t notice the discolored glue stuck all over the bottom of the book or just didn’t care.
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