"The First Step" () also known as "The Morals of Diet", is an 1891 essay by Russian author

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

that advocates for

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. Originally written as a preface to the Russian translation of Howard Williams' 1883 book '' The Ethics of Diet'', the essay also touches on themes of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

. In the piece, Tolstoy argues that adopting a vegetarian diet is a necessary first step toward moral development, drawing on religious, ethical, and psychological reasoning to support his claims.

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According to South African novelist

Imraan Coovadia Imraan Coovadia (born 1970) is a South African novelist, essayist, and academic. He is the director of the creative writing program at the University of Cape Town. He has taught 19th-Century Studies and Creative Writing at a number of US universi ...

, writing in 2020, the essay opens with a vivid depiction of a pig being slaughtered by a butcher, a scene Coovadia describes as characteristic of Tolstoy's style of "plainness and force." Although centered on the rights of animals, the essay also adopts a distinctly religious tone, urging readers to practice self-abnegation, fasting, and renunciation of worldly pleasures. Ronald D. LeBlanc of the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

notes that the essay is structured in two unequal parts: the first focused on religious and ascetic justifications for vegetarianism, and the second on humanitarian and ethical arguments. Tolstoy also asserts that vegetarianism strengthens one's ability to control sexual impulses, a claim that has been criticized by modern psychologists as "pseudo-erotic." The essay concludes with a psychological argument, asserting that the act of killing and consuming animals numbs human sensitivity to compassion, pity, and empathy for others.

Legacy

"The First Step" was considered instrumental in encouraging

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

to maintain his vegetarian diet. According to Charlotte Alston, a lecturer at

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

, Tolstoy had planned to establish a vegetarian journal in 1893 with the same title, ''The First Step''. The essay was first translated into English in 1900 by Tolstoy's regular translators, Aylmer and Louise Maude, and again in 1905 by

Leo Wiener Leo Wiener (1862–1939) was an American historian, linguist, author and translator. Biography Wiener was born in Białystok (then in the Russian Empire), of Lithuanian Jewish origin. His father was Zalmen (Solomon) Wiener, and his mother was ...

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Legacy

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