Resurrection by Tolstoy

"'Disgusting is the animality of the beast in men,' he though, 'but when that beast in man is in its pure form, you survey it from the height of your spiritual life and despise it; whether you have fallen or not, you remain what you have been, but when this animal is concealed beneath a pseudo-aesthetic, poetical film and demands worship, then you become all rapt in it, and, worshiping the animal, no longer distinguish right from wrong. Then it is terrible."

How interesting! "this animal is concealed beneath a pseudo-aesthetic, poetical film and demands worship"! Is it really the animal, the beast within us behind the poetry and romanticism? Is it the I? I haven't come across such a thing before...does the romantic in us destroy in the end?

"He loved her not for his own sake, but hers and God's."

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Mainly about this man who seduced this girl, while young- they were both in love at the time, and left her with 100 roubles. From then on she became a prostitute, and her life got worse from that point. She was accused of poisoning someone and the man was on the jury, even though she still was condemned. He spent the whole time devoting his time to her and the case. She ended up by marrying someone else. He ended up becoming a Christian. So his new Christian life began...

Amazing book. Too bad they didn't marry. It shows the sick perversion of man in power, compared to the ones how aren't but are still ad. People in power corrupt themselves and at the same time corrupt the criminals. If everyone should live by God's commandments (as suggested in the book) there would be a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. ---

"'Just so we act,' thought Wekhlyu'dov,'living in the insipid conviction conviction that we are ourselves the masters of our life, and that it was given to us for our enjoyment. This is obviously foolish. If we have been sent here, this was doesn't by somebody's will and for a certain purpose. We, however, have decided that we are living for our own joy, and apparently we are suffering from it, as will the husbandman who is not doing the will of his master. But the master's will is expressed in injunctions (commandments. Let the people execute these injunctions, and there will be on earth the Kingdom of God, and people will attain the highest good, which is within their reach."

If only man would obey God. We suffer because we do not, we are made, programmed to obey, But yet we refuse to do so. That's been humanities biggest problem, and what a problem!

===also funny passage with the Catholic mass and how they did everything Christ told them not to do--- I love Tolstoy's satire!