Summary
Tolstoy pulls back the curtain on how power really works, using simple examples that hit home. He starts with men hauling a log—whoever talks the most about how to do it gets called 'the leader,' even though the guys doing the actual work are what makes it happen. This same pattern plays out on the grand scale of history. When France tears itself apart in revolution, people create stories afterward about liberty and equality to justify the bloodshed. When Napoleon marches across Europe, it gets dressed up as glory and patriotism. But these justifications are just stories we tell ourselves after the fact, like a ship's wake that seems to lead the ship but actually follows behind it. The real truth? Power isn't what we think it is. The people who appear to have the most power—the ones giving orders and making speeches—actually have the least direct influence on what happens. Meanwhile, the masses of ordinary people doing the actual work create the real movement of history. Leaders are like foam on a wave, visible but not the force driving things forward. This matters because it means you have more power than you think, and the people who claim to control everything have less. The next time someone tries to sell you a grand narrative about why events happened, remember: they're probably just trying to clear their own moral responsibility, like a snowplow pushing obstacles out of their path.
Coming Up in Chapter 361
As War and Peace draws to its epic conclusion, Tolstoy delivers his final thoughts on what history really teaches us about human nature and the forces that shape our world.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
When an event is taking place people express their opinions and wishes about it, and as the event results from the collective activity of many people, some one of the opinions or wishes expressed is sure to be fulfilled if but approximately. When one of the opinions expressed is fulfilled, that opinion gets connected with the event as a command preceding it. Men are hauling a log. Each of them expresses his opinion as to how and where to haul it. They haul the log away, and it happens that this is done as one of them said. He ordered it. There we have command and power in their primary form. The man who worked most with his hands could not think so much about what he was doing, or reflect on or command what would result from the common activity; while the man who commanded more would evidently work less with his hands on account of his greater verbal activity. When some larger concourse of men direct their activity to a common aim there is a yet sharper division of those who, because their activity is given to directing and commanding, take less part in the direct work. When a man works alone he always has a certain set of reflections which as it seems to him directed his past activity, justify his present activity, and guide him in planning his future actions. Just the same is done by a concourse of people, allowing those who do not take a direct part in the activity to devise considerations, justifications, and surmises concerning their collective activity. For reasons known or unknown to us the French began to drown and kill one another. And corresponding to the event its justification appears in people’s belief that this was necessary for the welfare of France, for liberty, and for equality. People ceased to kill one another, and this event was accompanied by its justification in the necessity for a centralization of power, resistance to Europe, and so on. Men went from the west to the east killing their fellow men, and the event was accompanied by phrases about the glory of France, the baseness of England, and so on. History shows us that these justifications of the events have no common sense and are all contradictory, as in the case of killing a man as the result of recognizing his rights, and the killing of millions in Russia for the humiliation of England. But these justifications have a very necessary significance in their own day. These justifications release those who produce the events from moral responsibility. These temporary aims are like the broom fixed in front of a locomotive to clear the snow from the rails in front: they clear men’s moral responsibilities from their path. Without such justification there would be no reply to the simplest question that presents itself when examining each historical event. How is it that millions of men commit collective crimes—make war, commit murder, and so on? With...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Narrative Laundering
People pursue self-interest first, then create noble stories afterward to justify their actions and protect their self-image.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches you to distinguish between visible authority and actual influence by watching who talks versus who acts.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when someone takes credit for group work—ask yourself who actually did the labor behind their success.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Collective activity
When a group of people work together toward a common goal, but no single person actually controls the outcome. The result comes from everyone's combined efforts, not from one leader's commands.
Modern Usage:
Like how a viral social media trend happens - no one person creates it, but everyone claims they saw it coming first.
Command and power
Tolstoy's idea that what we call 'leadership' is often just someone taking credit for what was going to happen anyway. Real power comes from doing the work, not from giving orders.
Modern Usage:
The CEO gets praise when a company succeeds, but it's really the employees doing the daily work who make it happen.
Historical justification
The stories people tell after events happen to make them seem planned and moral. These explanations come after the fact, like trying to steer a car by looking in the rearview mirror.
Modern Usage:
Politicians explaining why they voted a certain way after they see which way public opinion goes.
Division of labor
The natural split that happens in groups where some people do the physical work while others talk about strategy. Usually the talkers get called leaders even though the workers create the actual results.
Modern Usage:
In any workplace, there are the people who attend meetings and the people who actually get things done.
Primary form of power
Tolstoy's term for the most basic kind of authority - when someone's opinion happens to match what the group was already going to do, so they get credit for 'commanding' it.
Modern Usage:
Like being the person who suggests ordering pizza when everyone was already hungry for pizza.
Verbal activity
Tolstoy's way of describing how people who talk more about work tend to do less actual work. The more someone explains and commands, the less they participate in the real effort.
Modern Usage:
The coworker who spends all day in meetings talking about productivity instead of being productive.
Characters in This Chapter
The log haulers
collective protagonist
These unnamed workers represent Tolstoy's point about real power. They do the actual work of moving the log, but whoever talks the most gets called the leader.
Modern Equivalent:
The warehouse crew who keep Amazon running while Jeff Bezos gets the credit
The commanding man
symbolic leader figure
The worker who talks most about how to haul the log and gets labeled as the one who 'ordered' it. Shows how leadership is often just being the loudest voice that happens to match the outcome.
Modern Equivalent:
The project manager who takes credit for the team's work
Key Quotes & Analysis
"The man who worked most with his hands could not think so much about what he was doing, or reflect on or command what would result from the common activity"
Context: Tolstoy explaining why real workers don't become the recognized leaders
This reveals the fundamental irony of power - those doing the most important work have the least time to talk about it or claim credit. The people actually creating results are too busy working to promote themselves.
In Today's Words:
The people actually doing the job are too busy to play office politics.
"He ordered it. There we have command and power in their primary form."
Context: After one worker's opinion happens to match what the group does with the log
Tolstoy shows how arbitrary leadership really is. This man didn't actually control anything - his opinion just happened to align with the collective action, but now he gets credit for commanding it.
In Today's Words:
He called it, so now everyone thinks he was in charge all along.
"When one of the opinions expressed is fulfilled, that opinion gets connected with the event as a command preceding it."
Context: Explaining how we create false narratives about cause and effect in leadership
This cuts to the heart of how we misunderstand power and causation. We see correlation and assume command, when really someone just guessed right about what was already happening.
In Today's Words:
Whoever's prediction comes true gets treated like they made it happen.
Thematic Threads
Power
In This Chapter
True power lies with the masses doing actual work, while visible leaders are just foam on the wave
Development
Builds on earlier themes about how real influence flows from unexpected sources
In Your Life:
The person with the loudest voice in your workplace meeting might have the least actual impact on getting things done.
Class
In This Chapter
Working people create real historical movement while elites take credit with grand narratives
Development
Deepens the ongoing exploration of how class shapes who gets remembered versus who does the work
In Your Life:
Your daily labor matters more than your boss's strategic vision, even though they get the recognition.
Identity
In This Chapter
People construct elaborate moral identities to avoid facing uncomfortable truths about their actions
Development
Continues examining how we protect our self-image through selective storytelling
In Your Life:
When you find yourself explaining why something you did was actually noble, you might be lying to yourself.
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Society demands heroic narratives to make sense of messy, self-interested human behavior
Development
Explores how collective need for meaning creates pressure to sanitize history
In Your Life:
The pressure to have a good reason for your choices can push you toward elaborate justifications instead of honest reflection.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
According to Tolstoy, what's the difference between who appears to have power and who actually creates change in the world?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does Tolstoy compare historical narratives to a ship's wake - something that follows behind rather than leads the way?
analysis • medium - 3
Think about a recent news story or workplace situation - can you spot the gap between what someone did and how they explained it afterward?
application • medium - 4
When you've made a decision you later had to justify extensively to others or yourself, what was really driving that choice versus what story you told?
reflection • deep - 5
If ordinary people doing the actual work create real change while leaders mostly create stories, how should this change how you view your own influence in your family, workplace, or community?
application • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Decode the Narrative Laundering
Pick a recent decision made by someone in authority over you - a boss, politician, school administrator, or family member. Write down what they actually did, what they gained from it, and how they explained it. Then flip it: think about a recent choice you made that you had to justify extensively. What were you really after versus what story you told?
Consider:
- •Look for the practical benefits the person gained, not just their stated motivations
- •Notice if the explanation came before or after the action - timing reveals a lot
- •Pay attention to how elaborate or defensive the justification sounds
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you caught yourself crafting a noble explanation for something you did for purely practical reasons. What does this teach you about how to spot narrative laundering in others?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 361: The Paradox of Human Freedom
As the story unfolds, you'll explore we feel free even when science says we're not, while uncovering to live with contradictions that can't be resolved. These lessons connect the classic to contemporary challenges we all face.