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Anton Chekhov Quotes
1860–1904 Russia
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Анто́н Па́влович Че́хов) (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) (Old Style: 17 January 1860 – 2 July 1904) was a Russian short story writer and playwright.
Russia Novelists Physicians Playwrights Short story writers Also known as: Anton Chekov, Chekhov
Random Anton Chekhov quote
215 quotes
We learn about life not from pluses alone, but from minuses as well.
It is depressing to hear the unfortunate or dying man jest.
Money, like vodka, turns a person into an eccentric.
Gooseberries (1898)
Probably nature itself gave man the ability to lie so that in difficult and tense moments he could protect his nest, just as do the vixen and wild duck.
Difficult People (1886)
It seems to me that all of the evil in life comes from idleness, boredom, and psychic emptiness, but all of that is inevitable when you become accustomed to living at others’ expense.
Faith is an aptitude of the spirit. It is, in fact, a talent: you must be born with it.
On the Road (1886)
Life is difficult for those who have the daring to first set out on an unknown road. The avant-garde always has a bad time of it.
Country acquaintances are charming only in the country and only in the summer. In the city in winter they lose half of their appeal.
The Story of Mme. NN or Lady N—'s Story or A Lady's Story (1887)
A grimy fly can soil the entire wall and a small, dirty little act can ruin the entire proceedings.
Narrative prose is a legal wife, while drama is a posturing, boisterous, cheeky and wearisome mistress.
Thought and beauty, like a hurricane or waves, should not know conventional, delimited forms.
I would like to be a free artist and nothing else, and I regret God has not given me the strength to be one.
I was so drunk the whole time that I took bottles for girls and girls for bottles.
It is a poor thing for the writer to take on that which he doesn’t understand.
In general, Russia suffers from a frightening poverty in the sphere of facts and a frightening wealth of all types of arguments.
It’s easier to write about Socrates than about a young woman or a cook.
In one-act pieces there should be only rubbish—that is their strength.
Despite your best efforts, you could not invent a better police force for literature than criticism and the author’s own conscience.
All great sages are as despotic as generals, and as ungracious and indelicate as generals, because they are confident of their impunity.
When an actor has money, he doesn't send letters but telegrams.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
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