War and Peace Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Andrei Bolkonsky to Pierre Bezukhov in the novel War and Peace, written by Leo Tolstoy (1869).

Volume one of this ginormous book begins in Russia in 1805, and it looks like a war is about to break out. Andrei is disenchanted with the world and his life, and he thinks joining the army would be a great escape. The topic of war comes up in conversation at a party in Moscow, since it's on everybody's mind. When Andrei drops this nice nugget of wisdom, he is talking to Pierre, who's kind of immature at this point in the novel. Andrei basically tells him that if people were only worried about themselves, there would be no reason to go to war because we'd figure things out on our own. Sadly, Andrei also recognizes this is just a pipe dream.

Where you've heard it

This book has been touted as the greatest novel ever written, so it's probably worth reading. It's doubtful you participated in the marathon reading of this book that happened in Russia in 2015, but you might be familiar with some of the film or television adaptations. Audrey Hepburn starred in the 1956 movie version, and there have been two miniseries made—one in 2007 and another in 2016.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

The message of this remark may makes sense, but it's one of those things you'd expect a politician to say. Don't be that guy. Let Tolstoy be that guy—he was good at it.