There are plenty of good people, but only a very, very few are precise and disciplined.
ANTON CHEKHOVThere are plenty of good people, but only a very, very few are precise and disciplined.
ANTON CHEKHOVYou will not become a saint through other people’s sins.
ANTON CHEKHOVCalculating selfishness is the annihilation of self.
ANTON CHEKHOVEveryone has the same God; only people differ.
ANTON CHEKHOVIt’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 CHEKHOVThe role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.
ANTON CHEKHOVOnly during hard times do people come to understand how difficult it is to be master of their feelings and thoughts.
ANTON CHEKHOVIn nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with human beings it is the other way round: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar.
ANTON CHEKHOVLife is given only once, and one wants to live it boldly, with full conscious and beauty.
ANTON CHEKHOVThe 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.
ANTON CHEKHOVThe aim of fiction is absolute and honest truth.
ANTON CHEKHOVThere is nothing more awful, insulting, and depressing than banality.
ANTON CHEKHOVExquisite nature, daydreams, and music say one thing, real life another.
ANTON CHEKHOVDon’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
ANTON CHEKHOVPeople should be beautiful in every way – in their faces, in the way they dress, in their thoughts, and in their innermost selves.
ANTON CHEKHOVThree o’clock in the morning. The soft April night is looking at my windows and caressingly winking at me with its stars. I can’t sleep, I am so happy.
ANTON CHEKHOV