215 quotes
Life is a vexatious trap; when a thinking man reaches maturity and attains to full consciousness he cannot help feeling that he is in a trap from which there is no escape.
We fret ourselves to reform life, in order that posterity may be happy, and posterity will say as usual: "In the past it used to be better, the present is worse than the past."
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
He who doesn’t know how to be a servant should never be allowed to be a master; the interests of public life are alien to anyone who is unable to enjoy others’ successes, and such a person should never be entrusted with public affairs.
"Why did you marry me into this family, mother?" said Lipa.
"One has to be married, daughter. It was not us who ordained it."
In the Ravine (1900)
If only one tooth aches, rejoice that not all of them ache.... If your wife betrays you, be glad that she betrayed only you and not the nation.
How pleasant it is to respect people! When I see books, I am not concerned with how the authors loved or played cards; I see only their marvelous works.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
There is no national science, just as there is no national multiplication table; what is national is no longer science.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
Better to perish from fools than to accept praises from them.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
I drank so much in Peter that Russia should be proud of me!
Each of us is full of too many wheels, screws and valves to permit us to judge one another on a first impression or by two or three external signs.
She read a lot, wrote letters without the letter ъ, …
It is easier to ask of the poor than of the rich.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
If you are afraid of loneliness, do not marry.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
The sea has neither meaning nor pity.
Gusev (1890)
The unhappy are egotistical, base, unjust, cruel, and even less capable of understanding one another than are idiots. Unhappiness does not unite people, but separates them...
When a person is born, he can embark on only one of three roads of life: if you go right, the wolves will eat you; if you go left, you’ll eat the wolves; if you go straight, you’ll eat yourself.
Can words such as Orthodox, Jew, or Catholic really express some sort of exclusive personal virtues or merits?
I don’t care for success. The ideas sitting in my head are annoyed by, and envious of, that which I’ve already written.
The cherry orchard is now mine!... I bought the estate on which my grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even permitted in the kitchen.
The Cherry Orchard (1904)
Women writers should write a lot if they want to write. Take the English women, for example. What amazing workers.