Perhaps the spirit of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) is breathing in my ear as I write Daily Celebrations, just as he was inspired to create his own daily celebration of life, A Calendar of Wisdom.

Tolstoy’s “daily thoughts to nourish the soul… selected from the world’s sacred texts” was his final major work, fulfilling a 15-year dream to gather “the wisdom of the centuries in one book.”

“I know that it gives one great inner force, calmness, and happiness to communicate with such great thinkers as Socrates, Epictetus, Arnold, Parker... They tell us what is most important for humanity—about the meaning of life, and about virtue.”

Tolstoy wrote his guide through meditation and journal entries. Similarly, Daily Celebrations rises from library wanderings, torn clippings, conversations, and notebooks—always with the intent to celebrate life’s passionate colors.

In a time of deep spiritual need, Tolstoy sought to share wisdom with as many people as possible. He considered this book his greatest gift to humanity.

He wrote in 1908, “I hope that the readers of this book may experience the same benevolent and elevating feeling which I... experienced when... working on its creation, and which I experience again and again, when I re-read it every day.”