Anton Chekhov Quotes
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Neither I nor anyone else knows what a standard is. We all recognize a dishonorable act, but have no idea what honor is.
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The world is a fine place. The only thing wrong with it is us. How little justice and humility there is in us, how poorly we understand patriotism!
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Tsars and slaves, the intelligent and the obtuse, publicans and pharisees all have an identical legal and moral right to honor the memory of the deceased as they see fit, without regard for anyone else’s opinion and without the fear of hindering one another.
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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.
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It is a poor thing for the writer to take on that which he doesn’t understand.
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Moscow is a city that has much suffering ahead of it.
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Mankind has conceived history as a series of battles; hitherto it has considered fighting as the main thing in life.
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Despicable means used to achieve laudable goals render the goals themselves despicable.
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Is it our job to judge? The gendarme, policemen and bureaucrats have been especially prepared by fate for that job. Our job is to write, and only to write.
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Country acquaintances are charming only in the country and only in the summer. In the city in winter they lose half of their appeal.
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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.
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The wealthy man is not he who has money, but he who has the means to live in the luxurious state of early spring.
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There is something beautiful, touching and poetic when one person loves more than the other, and the other is indifferent.
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One must speak about serious things seriously.
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There are in life such confluences of circumstances that render the reproach that we are not Voltaires most inopportune.
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Isolation in creative work is an onerous thing. Better to have negative criticism than nothing at all.
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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.
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Good breeding doesn't mean that you won't spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won't notice when someone else does.
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He who constantly swims in the ocean loves dry land.
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There is nothing more awful, insulting, and depressing than banality.
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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.
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When performing an autopsy, even the most inveterate spiritualist would have to question where the soul is.
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The person who wants nothing, hopes for nothing, and fears nothing can never be an artist.
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Everything is good in due measure and strong sensations know not measure.