Ma confession

by Leo Tolstoy

"Ma confession" by graf Leo Tolstoy is a short autobiographical work written in 1879 to 1880. Tolstoy confronts a profound mid-life existential crisis, grappling with mortality and searching for life's meaning in the face of inevitable death. He examines four responses to this dilemma—ignorance, pleasure-seeking, suicide, and endurance—finding each inadequate without God. The work chronicles his spiritual struggle and eventual transformation through a mystical affirmation of divine presence.