Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/82

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Life is Worth Living.
75

by what means I found out—that it was love in the heart of the man who first passed me, and whose heart prompted him to return and care for me. Both he and his wife took pity on me and loved me.

"The orphaned children are alive, but not through any means arising from a discussion of their future. It was love in the heart of a strange woman that saved their frail lives. All people live not for the care of themselves, but for the love of others.

"I knew before that God gave life to the people, but now I understand what his object was. I have learned that God did not wish his people to live independently of each other, and therefore did not reveal to each individual what is necessary for him or her alone. He wished that they should live in harmony as one people, and he revealed to them only that which was necessary for their mutual happiness.

"Now I understand that it is the people's duty to provide for their own physical needs,