Who Says This Quote?

This line is spoken by Stepan Oblonsky, also called Stiva. He is one of Tolstoy’s great “social” creatures: warm and attractive, and easy to like. That makes the quote more complicated than it might first seem.

Why It Matters

On its own, the sentence sounds generous and almost philosophical. Life really is made of contrast: joy and sorrow, charm and failure, tenderness and disappointment. Tolstoy’s novel depends on those contrasts. He is rarely interested in people who are only one thing.

But Oblonsky often uses charm and softens the consequences of his selfishness, making it less severe. Tolstoy lets us hear the truth in Stiva’s words while also showing the danger in the man who speaks them. Even flawed people can say something partly wise.