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Writing Quotes by Anton Chekhov

50 Writing quotes by Anton Chekhov

All Writing quotes Anton Chekhov’s page

Anton Chekhov reminds us that every woman can be a writer, and that the smallest details are the heart of a character’s mind. He also describes writing as a tireless grind, a habit of writing without waiting for praise, and he urges writers to champion the condemned rather than judge them.

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Writers are as jealous as pigeons.

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Write only of what is important and eternal.

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Write, write, write-till your fingers break.

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“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”

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“Cross out as many adjectives and adverbs as you can.”

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I confess I seldom commune with my conscience when I write.

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It's easier to write about Socrates than about a young woman or a cook.

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One usually dislikes a play while writing it, but afterward it grows on one. Let others judge and make decisions,

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“Straining the mind, wrinkling the brow, We write, write, write, Without respite Or hope of praise in the future or now.”

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When men ask me how I know so much about men, they get a simple answer: everything I know about men, I…

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In descriptions of nature one must seize on small details, grouping them so that when the reader closes his eyes he gets…

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

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Women writers should write a lot if they want to write. Take the English women, for example. What amazing workers.

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“Be sure not to discuss your hero's state of mind. Make it clear from his actions." ( Letter to Alexander Chekhov , May 10, 1886)”

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My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It…

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Everyone judges plays as if they were very easy to write. They don't know that it is hard to write a good…

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“In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!" ( Letter to Alexander Chekhov , May 10, 1886)”

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Write about this man who, drop by drop, squeezes the slave's blood out of himself until he wakes one day to find…

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To a chemist, nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist; he must abandon the subjective…

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The critics suppose that it is easy to write a play. They aren't aware that writing a good play is difficult and…

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Try to be original in your play and as clever as possible; but don't be afraid to show yourself foolish; we must…

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“Anyone who says the artist's field is all answers and no questions has never done any writing or had any dealings with…

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This man, who for twenty-five years has been reading and writing about art, and in all that time has never understood anything…

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When describing nature, a writer should seize upon small details, arranging them so that the reader will see an image in his…

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I abide by a rule concerning reviews: I will never ask, neither in writing nor in person, that a word be put…

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If an intelligent, educated, and healthy man begins to complain of his lot and go down-hill, there is nothing for him to…

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It is time for writers to admit that nothing in this world makes sense. Only fools and charlatans think they know and…

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I am writing a play which I probably will not finish until the end of November. I am writing it with considerable…

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I let myself go at the beginning and write with an easy mind, but by the time I get to the middle…

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My business is to be talented, that is, to be capable of selecting the important moments from the trivial ones. . .…

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“If Makar Denisych was just a clerk or a junior manager, then no one would have dared talk to him in such…

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“In my opinion it is not the writer's job to solve such problems as God, pessimism, etc; his job is merely to…

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“NINA Your life is beautiful. TRIGORIN I see nothing especially lovely about it. [He looks at his watch] Excuse me, I must…

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“Everything I have written up to now is trifling compared to that which I would like to write and would write with…

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“In my opinion, it is not the writer’s job to solve such problems as the existence of God, pessimism, etc. The job…

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Cross out as many adjectives and adverbs as you can. ... It is comprehensible when I write: "The man sat on the…

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It is a bad thing if a writer tackles a subject he does not understand.

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

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If you look at anything long enough, say just that wall in front of you - it will come out of that…

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If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired.…

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More by Anton Chekhov

“Using vile means to attain worthy ends makes the ends themselves vile. Let them ride on the backs of doctors and medical assistants, but…

If ever my life can be of any use to you, come and claim it.

There are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments ,…

“But here was all the timorousness and angularity of inexperienced youth, a feeling of awkwardness, and an impression of bewilderment, as if someone had…

“At the water's edge, barrels of pitch blazed like huge bonfires. Their reflection, crimson as the rising moon, crept to meet us in long,…

Anna Petrovna: Never talk to women about your own good qualities. Let them find out for themselves.

While you're playing cards with a regular guy or having a bite to eat with him, he seems a peaceable, good-humoured and not entirely…

“Lebedev: France has a clear and defined policy... The French know what they want. They just want to wipe out the Krauts, finish, but…

“My holy of holies are the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom - freedom from force and falsity,…

“What we have, we do not treasure,” and what’s more we do not even love it.”

No matter how corrupt and unjust a convict may be, he loves fairness more than anything else. If the people placed over him are…

“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”

“His reading suggested a man swimming in the sea among the wreckage of his ship, and trying to save his life by greedily clutching…

“Experience often repeated, truly bitter experience, had taught him long ago that with decent people, especially Moscow people -- always slow to move and…

“Why do you always wear black?” "I am mourning for my life.”