What makes Tolstoy's statement bite is its refusal to let forgiveness be one-sided—he doesn't say "forgive those who wronged you" but rather insists on *mutual* absolution, as though peace requires both parties to set down their grudges simultaneously. This cuts against our natural impulse to wait for the other person to apologize first, to prove themselves worthy of our magnanimity. Think of workplace feuds that fester for years: two colleagues avoid each other in hallways, poison team meetings with their tension, yet neither will extend the hand first because each believes they're the injured party. Tolstoy understood that peace isn't a reward for being right—it's a practical exchange, as transactional as any business deal, where both sides must surrender the luxury of their resentment at once.