“To define his tendency in a word, I would say that Chekhov was the poet of hopelessness. Stubbornly, sadly, monotonously, during all the years of his literary activity, nearly a quarter of a century long, Chekhov was doing one alone:… — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“Art, science, love, inspiration, ideals—choose out all the words with which humanity is wont, or has been in the past, to be consoled or to be amused—Chekhov has only to touch them and they instantly wither and die. And Chekhov himself faded, withered and died before our eyes. Only his wonderful art did not die—his art to kill by a… — Lev Shestov Copy Share
“After a tragedy, a farce. Philosophy enters into her power, and the earth returns under one's feet.” — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“He did not want to be original; he made superhuman efforts to be like everybody else: but there is no escaping one's destiny.” — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“So long as the child was fed on its mother's milk, everything seemed to it smooth and easy. But when it had to give… — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“Yet, with all his acuteness, it did not occur to him that Europe was not in the least to blame for his disillusionment. Europe had dropped miracles ages ago; she contented herself with ideals. It is we in Russia who will go on confusing miracles with ideals, as if the two were identical, whereas they have nothing to do with… — Lev Shestov Copy Share
“Aproape de fiecare data cand se refera la moarte, Socrate repeta, in opera lui Platon, cuvintele lui Euripide. Nimeni nu stie daca viata nu inseamna moarte iar moartea nu inseamna viata. Din cele mai indepartate timpuri, oamenii cei mai intelepti traiesc in aceasta enigmatica ignoranta; numai oamenii de rand stiu prea bine ce este viata, ce este moartea. Cum s-a… — Lev Shestov Copy Share
“Furthermore, as long as the world shall last, there will always be people who, either for the sake of peace or from an unquiet… — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“Although we had had no precise exponents of realism, yet after Pushkin it was impossible for a Russian writer to depart too far from actuality. Even those who did not know what to do with "real life" had to cope with it as best they could. Hence, in order that the picture of life should not prove too depressing, the… — Lev Shestov Copy Share
“They certified that I was sane; but I know that I am mad." This confession gives us the key to what is most important… — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“More striking still, a broken man is generally deprived of everything except the ability to acknowledge and feel his position.” — Lev Shestov Copy Share Image
“Anton Chekhov tells the truth neither out of love or respect for the truth, nor yet because, in the Kantian manner, a high duty bids him never to tell a lie, even to escape death. Neither has he the impulse which so often pushes young and fiery souls into rashness: that desire to stand erect, to keep the head high.… — Lev Shestov Copy Share
“Even Pushkin, who could understand everything, did not grasp the real significance of Dead Souls. He thought that the author was grieving for Russia, ignorant, savage, and outdistanced by the other nations. But it is not only in Russia that Gogol discovers "dead souls." All men, great and small, seem to him lunatics, lifeless, automata which obediently and mechanically carry… — Lev Shestov Copy Share
