The following is an excerpt from Resurrection, Tolstoy's final novel.
The main character, Njakyudov, is reflecting on "The Parable of the Vineyard" (aka "The Parable of the Tenants"--Matthew 21:33-44).
"The husbandmen imagined that the vineyard in which they were sent to work for their master was their own, and all that was in was made for them, and that their business was to enjoy life in this vineyard--forgetting the master and killing all those who reminded them of his existence.
'Are we not doing the same' Njakyudov thought, 'when we imagine ourselves to be masters of our lives and that life is given us for enjoyment? This, evidently, is an incongruity. We were sent here by someone's will and for some reason, and we have concluded that we live only for our own joy. And of course we feel unhappy, as laborers do when not fulfilling their master's orders. The master's will is expressed in these commandments [referring to the Sermon on the Mount]. If men will only fulfill these laws, the Kingdom of Heaven will be established on Earth, and men will receive the greatest good that they can attain to.'
'Seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'"
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