“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

—Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy offered this explanation for the lack of peace on earth. The cultural assumption is that peace requires conditions like absence of war or material abundance. The Russian novelist disagreed.

In War & Peace, Tolstoy’s characters bicker and backstab over the slights and insults. When war comes to Russia, some let go their pettiness, embrace spiritual transcendence and experience peace in the middle of Napoleon’s violent invasion.