Anton Chekhov

Better a debauched canary than a pious wolf.

— Anton Chekhov

Brevity - the sister of talent.

— Anton Chekhov

“Let's drop the philosophy!”

— Anton Chekhov

Life has gone by as if I never lived

— Anton Chekhov

Advertising is the very essence of democracy.

— Anton Chekhov

“Every science has a beginning but no end.”

— Anton Chekhov

A hungry dog believes in nothing but meat.

— Anton Chekhov

Only entropy comes easy.

— Anton Chekhov

The wealthy are always surrounded by hangers-on; science and art are as well.

— Anton Chekhov

Solomon made a big mistake when he asked for wisdom.

— Anton Chekhov

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

— Anton Chekhov

That can not possibly be, because it could never possibly be.

— Anton Chekhov

“If you could only see your face, your gestures! Oh, how tedious your life must be.”

— Anton Chekhov

When a person expends the least amount of motion on one action, that is grace.

— Anton Chekhov

To judge between good or bad, between successful and unsuccessful would take the eye of a God.

— Anton Chekhov

One had better not rush, otherwise dung comes out rather than creative work.

— Anton Chekhov

Common hypocrites pass themselves off as doves; political and literary hypocrites pose as eagles. But don't be fooled by their eagle-like appearance.…

— Anton Chekhov

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

— Anton Chekhov

People understand God as the expression of the most lofty morality. Maybe He needs only perfect people.

— Anton Chekhov

When you live on cash, you understand the limits of the world around which you navigate each day. Credit leads into a…

— Anton Chekhov

“Without solitude true happiness was impossible. The fallen angel was faithless to God probably only because he longed for solitude, which angles…

— Anton Chekhov

Death is terrifying, but it would be even more terrifying to find out that you are going to live forever and never…

— Anton Chekhov

“Within a year Ivan Dmitritch was completely forgotten in the town, and his books, heaped up by his landlady in a sledge…

— Anton Chekhov

By nature servile, people attempt at first glance to find signs of good breeding in the appearance of those who occupy more…

— Anton Chekhov

“Sapping the foundations of civilisation, of authority, of other people’s altars, spattering them with filth, winking jocosely at them only to justify…

— Anton Chekhov

Idea for a short story. The shore of a lake, a young girl who's spent her whole life beside it, a girl…

— Anton Chekhov

“NINA Think of me sometimes. TRIGORIN I shall never forget you. I shall always remember you as I saw you that bright…

— Anton Chekhov

You've only got to begin to do anything to find out how few honest, honourable people there are. Sometimes, when I can't…

— Anton Chekhov

If I wanted to order a ring for myself, the inscription I should choose would be: "Nothing passes away." I believe that…

— Anton Chekhov

The time's come: there's a terrific thunder-cloud advancing upon us, a mighty storm is coming to freshen us up…It's going to blow…

— Anton Chekhov

But if you had asked him what his work was, he would look candidly and openly at you with his large bright…

— Anton Chekhov

“When dawn comes I'm sitting in bed with my arms around my knees and, since I have nothing to do, am trying…

— Anton Chekhov

“all these sentences to exile with hard labor, and formerly with flogging also, reform no one, and what's more, deter hardly a…

— Anton Chekhov

“Repeated – and in fact bitter – experience had long taught him that every affair, which at first adds spice and variety…

— Anton Chekhov

“He wrote and kept reading aloud what was written, while Vasilisa considered what she ought to write: how great had been their…

— Anton Chekhov

“For fifteen years I have been intently studying earthly life. It is true I have not seen the earth nor men, but…

— Anton Chekhov

“Ivanov: A naive man is a fool. But you women are clever enough to be naive so that it comes out in…

— Anton Chekhov

“A winnowing fan was droning away in one of the barns and dust poured out of the open door. On the threshold…

— Anton Chekhov

“At home in Moscow everything was in its winter routine; the stoves were heated, and in the morning it was still dark…

— Anton Chekhov

“And I thought how many satisfied, happy people really do exist in this world! And what a powerful force they are! Just…

— Anton Chekhov