--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ivanov: Once I worked hard and thought a…" description: "\"Ivanov: Once I worked hard and thought a lot but I never got tired; now I do nothing and think of nothing, but I'm tired in body and spirit. My conscie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/anton-chekhov-298_ache_ivanov-once-i-worked-hard-and-thought-a_300606.jpg" --- # Ivanov: Once I worked hard and thought a lot but I never… ![“Ivanov: Once I worked hard and thought a lot but I never got tired; now I do nothing and think of nothing, but I'm tired in body and spirit. My conscience aches day and night, I feel deeply guilty but I don't understand where I am actually at fault. And add to that my wife's illness, my lack of…” quote by Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/anton-chekhov-298_ache_ivanov-once-i-worked-hard-and-thought-a_300606.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/anton-chekhov-298_ache_ivanov-once-i-worked-hard-and-thought-a_300606.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/anton-chekhov-298_ache_ivanov-once-i-worked-hard-and-thought-a_300606.jpg) > “Ivanov: Once I worked hard and thought a lot but I never got tired; now I do nothing and think of nothing, but I'm tired in body and spirit. My conscience aches day and night, I feel deeply guilty but I don't understand where I am actually at fault. And add to that my wife's illness, my lack of money, the constant bickering, gossip, unnecessary conversations, that stupid Borkin... My home has become loathsome to me and I find living there worse than torture.” [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A man who once worked hard now feels exhausted, guilty, and trapped by personal hardships and a hostile home environment. **In simple terms:** Hard work turned into exhaustion and guilt. Key Takeaway Seek help and restructure life. Themes guilt exhaustion family strain Mood somber empathetic Type advice reflective When to use this quote - therapy - financial planning - relationship counseling - healthcare - stress management Key Concepts existential crisis mental health Questions to Reflect On - What steps can break this cycle? - Who can you ask for support? A Different Perspective Changing habits may be hard without external support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Day and night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-and-night/) [Gossip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gossip/) [Guilty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilty/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) ## Related quotes > [“Unfortunately, while people may be considerate with their illness, they often lack the same consideration with their bad attitudes, not thinking twice about spewing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/unfortunately-while-people-may-be-considerate-with-their-illness-they/) [Susan C. 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I get tired , tired of their questions so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lizz-wright/people-ask-me-where-are-you-going-and-i-know-i-know-what-they-think-i/) [Lizz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lizz-wright/) > [“And your mind is a sort of world to me; you can tell me all I want to know. I think I should never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-your-mind-is-a-sort-of-world-to-me-you-can-tell-me-all-i-want-to/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [You know what I think? If I am tired now, I don't mind, because I have eternity to rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andres-segovia/you-know-what-i-think-if-i-am-tired-now-i-don-t-mind-because-i-have/) [Andres Segovia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andres-segovia/) > [You think you're tired? My arms are holding this sign up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-think-you-re-tired-my-arms-are-holding-this-sign-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“i think you will be tired of telling me & my dreams to go to hell”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/i-think-you-will-be-tired-of-telling-me-my-dreams-to-go-to-hell/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [I would cry all of the time and I didn't know why! I was having shows and after the show I would go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-lafourcade/i-would-cry-all-of-the-time-and-i-didn-t-know-why-i-was-having-shows/) [Natalia Lafourcade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-lafourcade/) > [I don't think I will ever get tired of wearing pink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-bunton/i-don-t-think-i-will-ever-get-tired-of-wearing-pink/) [Emma Bunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-bunton/) > [“One would think her tired mind would go utterly blank, but the opposite was true. She could not stop thinking about the highwayman. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-quinn/one-would-think-her-tired-mind-would-go-utterly-blank-but-the/) [Julia Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-quinn/) > [I don't think about being tired, I don't think about my technique. I just try to break their will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-zingano/i-don-t-think-about-being-tired-i-don-t-think-about-my-technique-i/) [Cat Zingano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-zingano/) > [When I fight, I don't think about being tired, I don't think about technique. I just try to break their will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-zingano/when-i-fight-i-don-t-think-about-being-tired-i-don-t-think-about/) [Cat Zingano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-zingano/) > [If we think we are tired or ill, it is only because we have done something to unbalance the bodily conductivity of the universal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/if-we-think-we-are-tired-or-ill-it-is-only-because-we-have-done/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/using-vile-means-to-attain-worthy-ends-makes-the-ends-themselves-vile/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [If ever my life can be of any use to you, come and claim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/if-ever-my-life-can-be-of-any-use-to-you-come-and-claim-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [There are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/there-are-still-many-more-days-of-failure-ahead-whole-seasons-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“But here was all the timorousness and angularity of inexperienced youth, a feeling of awkwardness, and an impression of bewilderment, as if someone had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/but-here-was-all-the-timorousness-and-angularity-of-inexperienced/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“At the water's edge, barrels of pitch blazed like huge bonfires. 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They just want to wipe out the Krauts, finish, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/lebedev-france-has-a-clear-and-defined-policy-the-french-know-what/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“My holy of holies are the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom - freedom from force and falsity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/my-holy-of-holies-are-the-human-body-health-intelligence-talent/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“What we have, we do not treasure,” and what’s more we do not even love it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/what-we-have-we-do-not-treasure-and-what-s-more-we-do-not-even-love-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [No matter how corrupt and unjust a convict may be, he loves fairness more than anything else. If the people placed over him are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/no-matter-how-corrupt-and-unjust-a-convict-may-be-he-loves-fairness/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-is-my-opinion-that-every-woman-can-be-a-writer/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“His reading suggested a man swimming in the sea among the wreckage of his ship, and trying to save his life by greedily clutching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/his-reading-suggested-a-man-swimming-in-the-sea-among-the-wreckage-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Experience often repeated, truly bitter experience, had taught him long ago that with decent people, especially Moscow people -- always slow to move and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/experience-often-repeated-truly-bitter-experience-had-taught-him-long/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Why do you always wear black?” "I am mourning for my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/why-do-you-always-wear-black-i-am-mourning-for-my-life/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) [Explore all 679 Anton Chekhov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## More Ache quotes > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-lives-with-the-stress-of-an-overwhelmed-schedule-will/) [Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/) > [I ache for the touch of your lips dear, but much more for the touch of your whips dear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/i-ache-for-the-touch-of-your-lips-dear-but-much-more-for-the-touch-of/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [as we acquire new aches and new pains, our health care is, of necessity, being supplied by internists, cardiologists, dermatologists, podiatrists, urologists, periodontists, gynecologists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/as-we-acquire-new-aches-and-new-pains-our-health-care-is-of-necessity/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Jamie enjoyed solitude, but loneliness was a constant ache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-sheldon/jamie-enjoyed-solitude-but-loneliness-was-a-constant-ache/) [Sidney Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-sheldon/) > [Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/some-men-make-money-not-for-the-sake-of-living-but-ache-in-the/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Staring at her face, she began to fancy her outer layer had begun to melt away while she wasn't paying attention, and something --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/staring-at-her-face-she-began-to-fancy-her-outer-layer-had-begun-to/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [An emotion is a thought, yes, an idea, but it is also a sensation, an ache in your body. Desire, love, hate, fear, repulsion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/an-emotion-is-a-thought-yes-an-idea-but-it-is-also-a-sensation-an/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/he-that-sleeps-feels-not-the-tooth-ache/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I will live this day as if it is my last. …I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, Yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/i-will-live-this-day-as-if-it-is-my-last-i-will-waste-not-a-moment/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) Browse all 489 Ache quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ivanov: Once I worked hard and thought a lot but I never got tired; now I do nothing and think of nothing, but I'm tired in body and spirit. 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