Quotes by Anton Chekhov

...a writer should not so much write as embroider on paper; the work should be painstaking, laborious.

The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it.

What is there flattering, amusing, or edifying in their carving your name on a tombstone, then time rubbing off the inscription together with the gilding?

Existence is tedious, anyway.

Happiness does not exist, nor should it, and if there is any meaning or purpose in life, they are not in our peddling little happiness, but in something reasonable and grand. Do good!

A hungry dog believes in nothing but meat.

Youre not content in your position as a factory owner and a rich heiress, you dont believe in your right to it, and now you cant sleep, which, of course, is certainly better than if you were content, slept soundly, and thought everything was fine. Your insomnia is respectable; in any event, its a good sign. In fact, for our parents such a conversation as were having now would have been unthinkable; they didnt talk at night, they slept soundly, but we, our generation, sleep badly, are anguished, talk a lot, and keep trying to decide if were right or not.- A Medical Case

Nadya Zelenin and her mother had returned from a performance of Eugene Onegin at the theatre. Going into her room, the girl swiftly threw off her dress and let her hair down. Then she quickly sat at the table in her petticoat and white bodice to write a letter like Tatyanas.I love you, she wrote, but you dont love me, you dont love me!Having written this, she laughed.She was only sixteen and had never loved anyone yet. She knew that Gorny (an army officer) and Gruzdyov (a student) were both in love with her, but now, after the opera, she wanted to doubt their love. To be unloved and miserable: what an attractive idea! There was something beautiful, touching and romantic about A loving B when B wasnt interested in A. Onegin was attractive in not loving at all, while Tatyana was enchanting because she loved greatly. Had they loved equally and been happy they might have seemed boring.(After The Theatre)

The Lie which elates us is dearer than a thousand sober truths

[W]hen people are ashamed they hold aloof, above all from those nearest to them, and are unreserved with strangers

Lice consume grass, rust consumes iron, and lying the soul!

Civilized people must, I believe, satisfy the following criteria:1) They respect human beings as individuals and are therefore always tolerant, gentle, courteous and amenable ... They do not create scenes over a hammer or a mislaid eraser; they do not make you feel they are conferring a great benefit on you when they live with you, and they dont make a scandal when they leave. (...)2) They have compassion for other people besides beggars and cats. Their hearts suffer the pain of what is hidden to the naked eye. (...)3) They respect other peoples property, and therefore pay their debts.4) They are not devious, and they fear lies as they fear fire. They dont tell lies even in the most trivial matters. To lie to someone is to insult them, and the liar is diminished in the eyes of the person he lies to. Civilized people dont put on airs; they behave in the street as they would at home, they dont show off to impress their juniors. (...)5) They dont run themselves down in order to provoke the sympathy of others. They dont play on other peoples heartstrings to be sighed over and cosseted ... that sort of thing is just cheap striving for effects, its vulgar, old hat and false. (...)6) They are not vain. They dont waste time with the fake jewellery of hobnobbing with celebrities, being permitted to shake the hand of a drunken [judicial orator], the exaggerated bonhomie of the first person they meet at the Salon, being the life and soul of the bar ... They regard prases like I am a representative of the Press!! -- the sort of thing one only hears from [very minor journalists] -- as absurd. If they have done a brass farthings work they dont pass it off as if it were 100 roubles by swanking about with their portfolios, and they dont boast of being able to gain admission to places other people arent allowed in (...) True talent always sits in the shade, mingles with the crowd, avoids the limelight ... As Krylov said, the empty barrel makes more noise than the full one. (...)7) If they do possess talent, they value it ... They take pride in it ... they know they have a responsibility to exert a civilizing influence on [others] rather than aimlessly hanging out with them. And they are fastidious in their habits.

Every personal existence was upheld by a secret.

Ivanov: Gentlemen, youve again set up a drinking shop in my study... I have asked each and every one of you a thousand times not to do that... Look now, youve spilt vodka on a paper... and there are crumbs... and gherkins... Its disgusting!

If Ionas heart were to burst and his misery to flow out, it would flood the whole world, it seems, but yet it is not seen. It has found a hiding-place in such an insignificant shell that one would not have found it with a candle by daylight....

...there’s a great deal which I don’t understandin people. In a human being everything should be beautiful: the face, the clothes, the soul, the thoughts. . . .Often I see a beautiful face and clothes, so beautiful that my head gets giddy with rapture; but as for the soul and thoughts,my God! In a beautiful outside there’s sometimes hidden such a black soul that no whitening can rub it off...

Flies purify the air, and plays--the morals.

As a rule, however fine and deep a phrase may be, it only affects the indifferent, and cannot fully satisfy those who are happy or unhappy; that is why dumbness is most often the highest expression of happiness or unhappiness; lovers understand each other better when they are silent, and a fervent, passionate speech delivered by the grave only touches outsiders, while to the widow and children of the dead man it seems cold and trivial.

In all nature there seemed to be a feeling of hopelessness and pain. The earth, like a ruined woman sitting alone in a dark room and trying not to think of the past, was brooding over memories of spring and summer and apathetically waiting for the inevitable winter. Wherever one looked, on all sides, nature seemed like a dark, infinitely deep, cold pit from which neither Kirilov nor Abogin nor the red half-moon could escape....

Borkin: Ladies and gentlemen, why are you so glum? Sitting there like a jury after its been sworn in! ... Lets think up something. What would you like? Forfeits, tug of war, catch, dancing, fireworks?