Anton Chekhov Quotes

When asked, “Why do you always wear black?”, he said, “I am mourning for my life.

Not one of our mortal gauges is suitable for evaluating non-existence, for making judgments about that which is not a person.

Exquisite nature, daydreams, and music say one thing, real life another.

The government is not God. It does not have the right to take away that which it can’t return even if it wants to.

You will not become a saint through other people’s sins.

Oh, I have now a mania for shortness. Whatever I read – my own or other people’s works – it all seems to me not short enough.

He is an emancipated thinker who is not afraid to write foolish things.

The happy man only feels at ease because the unhappy bear their burden in silence. Without this silence, happiness would be impossible.

My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.

I kept thinking how marvellous it would be if I could somehow tear my heart, which felt so heavy, out of my chest.