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| "Portrait of Tolstoy," by Nikolai Ge (1831-1894) |
I was grateful to members who noticed Tolstoy's artistry, and went back to the text to compile some examples:
"Amid a long series of un-executed orders of Napoleon's, one series, for the campaign of 1812, was carried out -- not because those orders differed in any way from the other, unexecuted orders but because they coincided with the course of events that led the French army into Russia; just as in stencil work this or that figure comes out not because the color was laid on from this side or in that way, but because it was laid on from all sides over the figure cut in the stencil." I add the emphasis. In other words, a whole series of forces and events led to the French invasion.
"Men are hauling a log. Each of them expresses his opinion as to how and where to haul it. They haul the log away, and it happens that this is done as one of them said. He ordered it. There we have command and power in their primary form. The man who worked most with his hands could not think so much about what he was doing, or reflect on or command what would result from the common activity; while the man who commanded more would evidently work less with his hands on account of his greater verbal ability." In other words, a leader is someone too busy talking to do the work.
"These justifications [i.e., of killing in the name of national glory or some other ideal] release those who produce the events from moral responsibility. These temporary aims are like the broom fixed in front of a locomotive to clear the snow from the rails in front: they clear men's moral responsibilities from their path." In other words, Napoleon was able to cite lofty goals to rationalize the invasion of Russia.
