--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unless you're doing Shakespeare or…" description: "\"Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov... the written word is not sacrosanct.\" — Alan Arkin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png" --- # Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov... the written… ![“Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov... the written word is not sacrosanct.” quote by Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png) > “Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov... the written word is not sacrosanct.” [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The written word should be flexible, not treated as untouchable doctrine. **In simple terms:** Words can be changed; not holy. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about language. Themes creativity flexibility literature Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - editing - teaching literature - media criticism Key Concepts postmodernism relativism Questions to Reflect On - How does flexibility affect meaning? - When is fidelity essential? A Different Perspective Some audiences still demand strict fidelity to original texts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-word/) ## Related quotes > [I realized that after years of studying Shakespeare and Chekhov and regional repertory theater, what I really wanted to do was bust in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-gainey/i-realized-that-after-years-of-studying-shakespeare-and-chekhov-and/) [M. C. Gainey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-gainey/) > [I'm sort of nerdy, I liked Shakespeare and Chekhov and the classics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-maccallum/i-m-sort-of-nerdy-i-liked-shakespeare-and-chekhov-and-the-classics/) [Martha MacCallum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-maccallum/) > [I gotta keep busy. I'm not happy unless I'm working on two, three things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-gotta-keep-busy-i-m-not-happy-unless-i-m-working-on-two-three-things/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [It was a wonderful experience to live the life for a year; to spend all day doing Shakespeare and then do a play in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-daniels/it-was-a-wonderful-experience-to-live-the-life-for-a-year-to-spend/) [Phil Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-daniels/) > [Because when you're in drama school, you're playing multiple characters at once. You know, in the morning you're doing a Chekhov play, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-majors/because-when-you-re-in-drama-school-you-re-playing-multiple/) [Jonathan Majors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-majors/) > [I've been doing some Shakespeare acting classes - and I really enjoyed it. I never thought that would be something I would say, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-clifton/i-ve-been-doing-some-shakespeare-acting-classes-and-i-really-enjoyed/) [Kevin Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-clifton/) > [Most of my career has been spent with the RSC doing Shakespeare, and the thing you learn from Shakespeare is that his historical plays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-sher/most-of-my-career-has-been-spent-with-the-rsc-doing-shakespeare-and/) [Antony Sher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-sher/) > [I did Shakespeare in college and the nerves I got doing Shakespeare are the same nerves I get doing 'Mad Men.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristoffer-polaha/i-did-shakespeare-in-college-and-the-nerves-i-got-doing-shakespeare/) [Kristoffer Polaha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristoffer-polaha/) > [Doing Shakespeare once is not fair to the play. I have been in Shakespeare plays when it's not until the last two or three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-pacino/doing-shakespeare-once-is-not-fair-to-the-play-i-have-been-in/) [Al Pacino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-pacino/) > [I don't make any distinction between a popular TV series or blockbuster film and doing Shakespeare. They're different, but as long as the material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/i-don-t-make-any-distinction-between-a-popular-tv-series-or/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [Doing Shakespeare certainly makes you a better actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-avery/doing-shakespeare-certainly-makes-you-a-better-actor/) [James Avery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-avery/) > [If you grow up in Britain, you just do Shakespeare. If you go and work in a theater once or twice or three times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-dalton/if-you-grow-up-in-britain-you-just-do-shakespeare-if-you-go-and-work/) [Timothy Dalton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-dalton/) > [Whether you're doing Shakespeare or Disney, good work is good work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tucker/whether-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-disney-good-work-is-good-work/) [Jonathan Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tucker/) > [When I was doing Shakespeare and I had spent a lot of time and effort in trying to become a great Shakespearean actress. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-mirren/when-i-was-doing-shakespeare-and-i-had-spent-a-lot-of-time-and-effort/) [Helen Mirren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-mirren/) > [I've always longed for the theatre and acting to be popular. No actor wants to play to an empty house. We only do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/i-ve-always-longed-for-the-theatre-and-acting-to-be-popular-no-actor/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) ## More by Alan Arkin > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [If I'm going to make a fake movie, it's going to be a fake hit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/if-i-m-going-to-make-a-fake-movie-it-s-going-to-be-a-fake-hit/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I don't mind watching plays once in a while, but as long as I don't have to be in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-mind-watching-plays-once-in-a-while-but-as-long-as-i-don-t/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I had a hard time treating my field as if it's horse racing, putting actors in competition against each other. I see how the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-had-a-hard-time-treating-my-field-as-if-it-s-horse-racing-putting/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Creativity means learning where the rules exist, and then breaking them! Saying, "It's better this way." But you have to know the rules in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/creativity-means-learning-where-the-rules-exist-and-then-breaking/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Things have got to add up to 100 points. The script is part of it, the character is part of it, the people I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/things-have-got-to-add-up-to-100-points-the-script-is-part-of-it-the/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I don't sense that I am someone's hero, though I'm happy when people like my work. I've learned how to be gracious about it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-sense-that-i-am-someone-s-hero-though-i-m-happy-when-people/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [It's - everybody's looking at the bottom line all the time, and failure doesn't look good on the bottom line, and yet you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/it-s-everybody-s-looking-at-the-bottom-line-all-the-time-and-failure/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [That's the privilege of old age: You don't have to remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/that-s-the-privilege-of-old-age-you-don-t-have-to-remember/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Every physicist knows that things connect with each other. To isolate things is not the way the universe works - winning best actor is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/every-physicist-knows-that-things-connect-with-each-other-to-isolate/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I don't know why we have to put things in boxes of superlatives. That isolates them. Life is fluid, and the minute you start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-know-why-we-have-to-put-things-in-boxes-of-superlatives-that/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [People think that the people in Hollywood have some master plan. They just make the movies that people go to see. I think it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/people-think-that-the-people-in-hollywood-have-some-master-plan-they/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I'm very old. I haven't got time to be charming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-m-very-old-i-haven-t-got-time-to-be-charming/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I'm an actor. My life as an actor depends on who sends me what. I'm just taking the best stuff that I can find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-m-an-actor-my-life-as-an-actor-depends-on-who-sends-me-what-i-m/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Education does not mean jamming information into somebody's head. Rather, it's that ancient idea that all knowledge is within us; to teach is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/education-does-not-mean-jamming-information-into-somebody-s-head/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) [Explore all 101 Alan Arkin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) ## More Chekhov quotes > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/art-science-love-inspiration-ideals-choose-out-all-the-words-with/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [There are no whys in a person's life, and very few hows. In the end, in search of useful wisdom, you could only come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-no-whys-in-a-person-s-life-and-very-few-hows-in-the-end-in/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [“He did not want to be original; he made superhuman efforts to be like everybody else: but there is no escaping one's destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/he-did-not-want-to-be-original-he-made-superhuman-efforts-to-be-like/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [Chekhov is this poet of melancholy and isolation and of wishing you were somewhere else than where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/chekhov-is-this-poet-of-melancholy-and-isolation-and-of-wishing-you/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“He keeps going, going, going on; his people groan and fall one after the other, but he keeps on going, going and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/he-keeps-going-going-going-on-his-people-groan-and-fall-one-after-the/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [I don't think my looks are modern. I always imagined I'd end up doing Chekhov, Ibsen and Shakespeare all my life and never play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kingston/i-don-t-think-my-looks-are-modern-i-always-imagined-i-d-end-up-doing/) [Alex Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kingston/) > [“Any idiot can face a crisis, it is day to day living that wears you out. —Anton Chekhov”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-is-day-to-day-living-that-wears-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Chekhov will seek out the key situation in the life of a cabman or a charwoman, and make them glow for a brief moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/chekhov-will-seek-out-the-key-situation-in-the-life-of-a-cabman-or-a/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [As Michael (Chekhov)'s pupil, I learned more about acting. I learned psychology, history, and the good manners of art - taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/as-michael-chekhov-s-pupil-i-learned-more-about-acting-i-learned/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [If we're lucky, writer and reader alike, we'll finish the last line or two of a short story and then just sit for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/if-we-re-lucky-writer-and-reader-alike-we-ll-finish-the-last-line-or/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [Chekhov said: let's put God - and all these grand progressive ideas - to one side. Let's begin with man; let's be kind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/chekhov-said-let-s-put-god-and-all-these-grand-progressive-ideas-to/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [Reading Chekhov was just like the angels singing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/reading-chekhov-was-just-like-the-angels-singing-to-me/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [When we remove the snowdrift piled up over Chekhov in recent years, we uncover a man profoundly agitated by social problems; a writer whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/when-we-remove-the-snowdrift-piled-up-over-chekhov-in-recent-years-we/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Read the great stuff, but read the stuff that isn't so great, too. Great stuff is very discouraging. If you read only Beckett and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/read-the-great-stuff-but-read-the-stuff-that-isn-t-so-great-too-great/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I'll never forget reading Chekhov's "A Doctor's Visit" on a train to Hawthorne, New York, and I got to the end - the scene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ross/i-ll-never-forget-reading-chekhov-s-a-doctor-s-visit-on-a-train-to/) [Adam Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ross/) Browse all 132 Chekhov quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov... the written word is not sacrosanct.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Arkin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekhov-the-written-word-is-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chekhov" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekhov-the-written-word-is-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/alan-arkin-5379_chekhov_unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekh_2483723.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov... the written word is not sacrosanct.” — Alan Arkin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Arkin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Unless you're doing Shakespeare or Chekhov......", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekhov-the-written-word-is-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/unless-you-re-doing-shakespeare-or-chekhov-the-written-word-is-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```