Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.
The real sting here isn't that Tolstoy opposes wrongdoing—anyone can manage that. Rather, he's diagnosing a particular modern weakness: our tendency to mistake consensus for correctness, to let the crowd's weight become our moral scale. When millions cheated on their taxes during a certain era, or when entire nations participated in slavery, the sheer number of participants created an intoxicating illusion of legitimacy. What Tolstoy demands is that we hold our moral compass steady *despite* the comfort of company, which is infinitely harder than standing alone against obvious villainy.
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
Viktor Frankl“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you ast...”
Rumi“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.”
Steve Jobs