Tolstoi went on to say:
“The whole business of the writer is to perfect himself. I have always tried and try now to make a question which interests me clear to the highest degree that I am capable of making it. The writer’s work consists in that. The most dangerous thing is to be a teacher. I do not think I have tried to be that. Yes, I have.... But always badly.”
I. Gorbunov was saying that the “Posrednik” had the Censor’s permission to publish an excellent little book, in which a visit to Sarov is described impartially.
Tolstoi said:
“I have no sympathy when such things are described in a joking or jeering way. There is a great deal of sincere, simple belief there which should be treated carefully. In some old credulous woman you feel, in spite of the absurd superstition, that the foundation of her faith is a real striving for the highest and for the truth. Her outlook on the world is much higher than that of a professor who has solved all questions long ago.”
V. G. Kristi who walked with us asked Tolstoi:
“If such an old woman talked about religion, must one destroy her illusions and tell her honestly what one thinks?”
Tolstoi replied to him:
“The question does not exist to me. If I talk about religious questions, I always express my thoughts, if I believe the truth of what I say; and if my words are not understood, it is none of my business, but I can say only what I think.”
Last year two young men came to Tolstoi, and now they have been again. They are very nice and in search of a better life. They turned out to be ballet dancers from the Moscow Grand Theatre. The necessity of maintaining their family prevents them from changing their profession. Tolstoi praised them highly. Then with a smile he said: