She was in that highly-wrought state when the reasoning powers act with great rapidity: the state a man is in before a battle or a struggle, in danger, and at the decisive moments of life - those moments when a man shows once and for all what he is worth, that his past was not lived in vain but was a preparation for these moments.
Leo TolstoyWhy should I live? Why should I do anything? Is there in life any purpose which the inevitable death that awaits me does not undo and destroy?
Leo TolstoyWithout the support from religion--remember, we talked about it--no father, using only his own resources, would be able to bring up a child.
Leo Tolstoy