Here is Leo Tolstoy's first book of "Daily Thoughts," never before translated into English, compiled by Tolstoy in 1906 to share inspiring quotes from more than forty philosophers for each day of the year. Aphorisms and ideas collected by Tolstoy in his other volumes have affected the lives of millions. Among those who were profoundly influenced by Tolstoy and his radical efforts to encourage higher morals were a young Hindu lawyer named Mahatma Gandhi and a young preacher in the Southern U.S. named Martin Luther King. Gandhi described himself as being "overwhelmed" by Leo Tolstoy's "independent thinking, profound morality and truthfulness." Tolstoy was one of the first intellectuals to seek the cross-cultural wisdom of as many great thinkers as he could, from all centuries. When Leo Tolstoy went viral one hundred years before the internet, authorities in Russia sought to limit his influence. Now, re-discovered and revived by two Canadians, here are the once-suppressed ideas from the likes of Confucius and Aristotle and Lao-Tse to modern thinkers of Tolstoy's era that he first began collecting in 1903. Tolstoy felt his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina were far less important than his distillations of wisdom. Tolstoy's Words To Live By shows why.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), a giant of world literature, is the author of many classics, including War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Leo Tolstoy's profile page

Peter Sekirin was born in Russia and holds a Ph.D. in Russian Literature from the University of Toronto. He has been working at the Center for Russian Studies at the University of Toronto since 1999. His works include The Dostoevsky Archive, a biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky; the English-language translations of Tolstory's The Calendar of Wisdom; and On the Sea and Other Stories: Early Short Stories of Anton Chekhov. He works as a research associate at the University of Toronto and lives in North York, Ontario.

Peter Sekirin's profile page

Alan Twigg is the publisher and editor of BC Book World, Canada's largest-circulating publication about books. He has also been contributing editor of Quill & Quire, Canadian books columnist for the Vancouver Province, books columnist for Vancouver magazine, a contributor of profiles to the Toronto Star and the Writers Union of Canada representative on the board of directors of the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing. In 2000, he was the first recipient of the Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contibutions to literature and publishing.

Alan is the author of ten previous titles including For Openers: Conversations with 24 Canadian Writers, Hubert Evans: The First Ninety-Three Years, Vancouver and Its Writers, Vander Zalm: from Immigrant to Premier, First Invaders: The Literary Origins of British Columbia and Cuba: 101 Top Historical Sites.

Alan Twigg's profile page