Anton Chekhov: Trending quotes

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Anton Chekhov: 444 quotes5 likes

“They say: "In the long run truth will triumph;" but it is untrue.”

Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

“In order to cultivate yourself and to drop no lower than the level of the milieu in which you have landed, it is not enough to read Pickwick and memorize a monologue from Faust…. You need to work continually day and night, to read ceaselessly, to study, to exercise your will…. Each hour is precious.”

Letter to his brother, N.P. Chekhov (March 1886)
Original: Чтобы воспитаться и не стоять ниже уровня среды, в которую попал, недостаточно прочесть только Пикквика и вызубрить монолог из «Фауста». <…> Тут нужны беспрерывный дневной и ночной труд, вечное чтение, штудировка, воля… Тут дорог каждый час…

“I have in my head a whole army of people pleading to be let out and awaiting my commands.”

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (October 27, 1888)
Letters

“People love talking of their diseases, although they are the most uninteresting things in their lives.”

Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

“Narrative prose is a legal wife, while drama is a posturing, boisterous, cheeky and wearisome mistress.”

Letter to A.N. Pleshcheev (January 15, 1889)
Letters

“I abide by a rule concerning reviews: I will never ask, neither in writing nor in person, that a word be put in about my book…. One feels cleaner this way. When someone asks that his book be reviewed he risks running up against a vulgarity offensive to authorial sensibilities.”

Letter to N.M. Ezhov (March 22, 1893)
Letters

“If I were asked to chose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It’s better to live somehow than not at all.”

Anton Chekhov book The Bet

The Bet (1889)

“Dear, sweet, unforgettable childhood! Why does this irrevocable time, forever departed, seem brighter, more festive and richer than it actually was?”

Anton Chekhov book The Bishop

The Bishop (1902)

“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there.”

Ilia Gurliand Reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov, in Teatr i iskusstvo 1904, No 28, 11 July, p. 521. commonly known as Chekhov's dictum or Chekhov's gun.

“Not everyone knows when to be silent and when to go. It not infrequently happens that even diplomatic persons of good worldly breeding fail to observe that their presence is arousing a feeling akin to hatred in their exhausted or busy host, and that this feeling is being concealed with an effort and disguised with a lie.”

Anton Chekhov book The Letter

The Letter (1887)

“Watching a woman make Russian pancakes, you might think that she was calling on the spirits or extracting from the batter the philosopher’s stone.”

Russian Pancakes or Bliny (1886)

“You ask “What is life?” That is the same as asking “What is a carrot?” A carrot is a carrot and we know nothing more.”

Letter to his wife, Olga Knipper Chekhov (April 20, 1904)
Letters

“I don’t know why one can’t chase two rabbits at the same time, even in the literal sense of those words. If you have the hounds, go ahead and pursue.”

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (September 11, 1888)
Letters

“One can prove or refute anything at all with words. Soon people will perfect language technology to such an extent that they’ll be proving with mathematical precision that twice two is seven.”

Lights (1888)

“The more elevated a culture, the richer its language. The number of words and their combinations depends directly on a sum of conceptions and ideas; without the latter there can be no understandings, no definitions, and, as a result, no reason to enrich a language.”

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (October 12, 1892)
Letters

“I’m in mourning for my life.”

Act I
The Seagull (1896)

“By nature servile, people attempt at first glance to find signs of good breeding in the appearance of those who occupy more exalted stations.”

A Futile Occurrence or A Trivial Incident (1886)

“Our self-esteem and conceit are European, but our culture and actions are Asiatic.”

Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

“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.”

Life is Wonderful (For those attempting suicide) (1885)

“Faith is an aptitude of the spirit. It is, in fact, a talent: you must be born with it.”

Anton Chekhov book On the Road

On the Road (1886)