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Anton Chekhov Quotes
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Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov practiced as a medical doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress."Chekhov renounced the theatre after the reception of The Seagull in 1896, but the play was revived to acclaim in 1898 by Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which subsequently also produced Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and premiered his last two plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works present a challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text".Chekhov had at first written stories to earn money, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them. Wikipedia  

✵ 17. January 1860 – 2. July 1904   •   Other names Anton Čechov, Anton Pawlowitsch Tschechow
Anton Chekhov photo
Anton Chekhov: 222   quotes 5   likes

Anton Chekhov Quotes

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

Anton Chekhov

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.”

Anton Chekhov

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

Books , Way , Feeling , Personality

“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)

Life

“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)

Time , Childhood

“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.”

Anton Chekhov

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)

Lie , Feeling , Business , Effort

“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.”

Anton Chekhov

Russian Pancakes or Bliny (1886)

Thinking

“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.”

Anton Chekhov

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

Life

“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.”

Anton Chekhov

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

Sense , Time

“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.”

Anton Chekhov

Lights (1888)

People , Mathematics , Perfection

“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.”

Anton Chekhov

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

Idea , Understanding , Dependency

“I’m in mourning for my life.”

Anton Chekhov

Act I
The Seagull (1896)

Life

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

Anton Chekhov

A Futile Occurrence or A Trivial Incident (1886)

People , Nature , Appearance

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

Anton Chekhov

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.”

Anton Chekhov

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)

Faith

“I don’t care for success. The ideas sitting in my head are annoyed by, and envious of, that which I’ve already written.”

Anton Chekhov

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

Idea , Success

“Everyone has the same God; only people differ.”

Anton Chekhov book The Duel

The Duel (1891)

God , People

“Although you may tell lies, people will believe you, if only you speak with authority.”

Anton Chekhov

Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

People

“Do you know when you may concede your insignificance? Before God or, perhaps, before the intellect, beauty, or nature, but not before people. Among people, one must be conscious of one’s dignity.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to his brother, M.P. Chekhov (April 1879)
Original: Ничтожество свое сознавай, знаешь где? Перед богом, пожалуй, пред умом, красотой, природой, но не пред людьми. Среди людей нужно сознавать свое достоинство.

Beauty , God , Nature , People

“It has become customary to say that a man needs only six feet of land. But a corpse needs six feet, not a person.”

Anton Chekhov book Gooseberries

Gooseberries (1898)

Personality

“In two or three hundred years life on earth will be unimaginably beautiful, astounding. Man needs such a life and if it hasn’t yet appeared, he should begin to anticipate it, wait for it, dream about it, prepare for it. To achieve this, he has to see and know more than did his grandfather and father.”

Anton Chekhov

Act I
The Three Sisters (1901)

Life , Beauty , Dreams , Appearance

“Lermontov died at age twenty-eight and wrote more than have you and I put together. Talent is recognizable not only by quality, but also by the quantity it yields.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to P.A. Sergeenko (March 6, 1889)
Original: Лермонтов умер 28 лет, а написал больше, чем оба мы с тобой вместе. Талант познается не только по качеству, но и по количеству им сделанного

Age

“Who keeps the tavern and serves up the drinks? The peasant. Who squanders and drinks up money belonging to the peasant commune, the school, the church? The peasant. Who would steal from his neighbor, commit arson, and falsely denounce another for a bottle of vodka? The peasant.”

Anton Chekhov book Peasants

Peasants (1897)

Money , School , Communication , Drink

“It is depressing to hear the unfortunate or dying man jest.”

Anton Chekhov book On the Road

On the Road

“What seems to us serious, significant and important will, in future times, be forgotten or won’t seem important at all.”

Anton Chekhov

Act I
The Three Sisters (1901)

Time , Future

“It’s worth living abroad to study up on genteel and delicate manners. The maid smiles continuously; she smiles like a duchess on a stage, while at the same time it is clear from her face that she is exhausted from overwork.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to I.P. Chekhov (October 2, 1897)
Letters

Smile , Study , Time

“There is something beautiful, touching and poetic when one person loves more than the other, and the other is indifferent.”

Anton Chekhov book After the Theatre

After the Theatre (1892)

Love , Beauty , Personality , Indifference

“When performing an autopsy, even the most inveterate spiritualist would have to question where the soul is.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (May 7, 1889)
Letters

Soul , Question

“It’s not a matter of old or new forms; a person writes without thinking about any forms, he writes because it flows freely from his soul.”

Anton Chekhov

Act IV
The Seagull (1896)

Soul , Thinking , Personality

“The desire to serve the common good must without fail be a requisite of the soul, a necessity for personal happiness; if it issues not from there, but from theoretical or other considerations, it is not at all the same thing.”

Anton Chekhov

Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

Soul , Personality , Happiness

“In Western Europe people perish from the congestion and stifling closeness, but with us it is from the spaciousness…. The expanses are so great that the little man hasn’t the resources to orient himself…. This is what I think about Russian suicides.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to D.V. Grigorovich (February 5, 1888)
Letters

People , Thinking , Suicide

“Great Jove angry is no longer Jove.”

Anton Chekhov

Act I http://books.google.com/books?id=RLrfgZwfeeUC&q=%22Great+Jove+angry+is+no+longer+Jove%22&pg=PA14#v=onepage
The Seagull (1896)

“The more refined the more unhappy.”

Anton Chekhov

Alernate translation: The more cultured a man, the less fortunate he is.
Чем культурнее, тем несчастнее.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

“Man will only become better when you make him see what he is like.”

Anton Chekhov

Alternate translation: Man will become better when you show him what he is like.
Тогда человек станет лучше, когда вы покажете ему, каков он есть…
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

“How easy it is, Doctor, to be a philosopher on paper, and how hard it is in life!”

Anton Chekhov The Seagull

Как легко, доктор, быть философом на бумаге и как это трудно на деле!
Act IV http://books.google.com/books?id=ENtYy7K9UmIC&q=%22%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BA+%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BA%D0%BE+%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80+%D0%B1%D1%8B%D1%82%D1%8C+%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BC+%D0%BD%D0%B0+%D0%B1%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B5+%D0%B8+%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA+%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%BE+%D1%82%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE+%D0%BD%D0%B0+%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%22&pg=PT51#v=onepage
The Seagull (1896)

Life

“The air of one’s native country is the most healthy air.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to his brother, G.M. Chekhov (January 1895)
Letters

Country

“When we retreat to the country, we are hiding not from people, but from our pride, which, in the city and among people, operates unfairly and immoderately.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (March 17, 1892)
Letters

People , Country

“There is not a single criterion which can serve as the measure of the non-existent, of the non-human.”

Anton Chekhov

Alternate translation: Not one of our mortal gauges is suitable for evaluating non-existence, for making judgments about that which is not a person.
Ни одна наша смертная мерка не годится для суждения о небытии, о том, что не есть человек.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)

“Of course politics is an interesting and engrossing thing. It offers no immutable laws, nearly always prevaricates, but as far as blather and sharpening the mind go, it provides inexhaustible material.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (January 4, 1889)
Letters

Law

“The bourgeoisie loves so-called “positive” types and novels with happy endings since they lull one into thinking that it is fine to simultaneously acquire capital and maintain one’s innocence, to be a beast and still be happy.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to A.S. Suvorin (April 13, 1895)
Letters

Love , Thinking , Happiness

“A woman can only become a man’s friend in three stages: first, she’s an agreeable acquaintance, then a mistress, and only after that a friend.”

Anton Chekhov

Act II
Uncle Vanya (1897)

“Once you’ve married, be strict but just with your wife, don’t allow her to forget herself, and when a misunderstanding arises, say: “Don’t forget that I made you happy.””

Anton Chekhov

Guide for Those Wishing to Marry (1885)

Forgetting , Happiness

“To describe drunkenness for the colorful vocabulary is rather cynical. There is nothing easier than to capitalize on drunkards.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to N.A. Leikin (December 24, 1886)
Letters

Color

“Pharisaism, obtuseness and tyranny reign not only in the homes of merchants and in jails; I see it in science, in literature, and among youth. I consider any emblem or label a prejudice…. My holy of holies is the human body, health, intellect, talent, inspiration, love and the most absolute of freedoms, the freedom from force and falsity in whatever forms they might appear.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to Alexei Pleshcheev (October 4, 1888)
Letters

Love , Health , Youth , Home

“Who but a stupid barbarian could burn so much beauty in his stove and destroy that which he cannot make?”

Anton Chekhov

Act I
Uncle Vanya (1897)

Stupidity , Beauty

“In countries where there is a mild climate, less effort is expended on the struggle with nature and man is kinder and more gentle.”

Anton Chekhov

Act I
Uncle Vanya (1897)

Nature , Effort , Country

“We old bachelors smell like dogs, do we? So be it. But I must take issue with your claim that doctors who treat female illnesses are womanizers and cynics at heart. Gynecologists deal with savage prose the likes of which you have never dreamed of.”

Anton Chekhov

Letter to E.M. Shavrova (September 16, 1891)
Letters

Dogs , Dreams , Heart

“Death can only be profitable: there’s no need to eat, drink, pay taxes, offend people, and since a person lies in a grave for hundreds or thousands of years, if you count it up the profit turns out to be enormous.”

Anton Chekhov

Rothschild’s Fiddle (1894)

Death , People , Drink , Personality