I first read War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy when I was 12 years old. I loved the novel so much that I copied many paragraphs from it into a notebook. That way I could re-read parts of the book later wherever I wanted, after it had been returned. I recall that my favorite chapters were those about Count Andre's thoughts and monologues, the oak tree, human destiny in the war, happiness and love when the hero is about to die, lying still in bed with Natasha sitting close by. No other novel so far has had such strong impressions on me, and I find Tolstoy the most humane novelist and the greatest psychologist of all times. He has profound understanding of human weaknesses, pains and follies. He is a Shakespeare in prose.
A non-violent and spiritual anarchist and the founder of thirteen schools at Yasnaya Polyana for his serfs' children, he was truly a social and educational reformer whose vision was far beyond his contemporaries'. In a letter to V. P. Botkin,a friend of his, he wrote: "The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens.... Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere."
Much remains to be learned from Tolstoy's anarchism, and his thoughts about religion, education, and non-violence resistance. He had great influence on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and has become an inspiration for many other non-violent fighters for democracy and social injustice.
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