--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The time has come for writers, especially…" description: "\"The time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make anything out, just as Socrates once admitt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg" --- # The time has come for writers, especially those who are… ![“The time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make anything out, just as Socrates once admitted it, just as Voltaire admitted it.” quote by Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg) > “The time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make anything out, just as Socrates once admitted it, just as Voltaire admitted it.” [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. Writers and artists must recognize the limits of control over the world, echoing ancient philosophers' humility. **In simple terms:** Artists admit they cannot control everything. Key Takeaway Embrace humility in creation. Themes humility creativity control philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition - creative brainstorming Key Concepts existentialism artistic limitation self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging limits affect your creative process? - What can you let go of to create more freely? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on external control can stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“In my opinion, it is not the writer’s job to solve such problems as the existence of God, pessimism, etc. The job of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/in-my-opinion-it-is-not-the-writer-s-job-to-solve-such-problems-as-2/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [My passion for gardening may strike some as selfish, or merely an act of resignation in the face of overwhelming problems that beset the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-weil/my-passion-for-gardening-may-strike-some-as-selfish-or-merely-an-act/) [Andrew Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-weil/) > [It's hard to tell writers, especially in movies, that words are secondary. Behavior is important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caan/it-s-hard-to-tell-writers-especially-in-movies-that-words-are/) [James Caan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caan/) > [Writers, especially when they act in a body and with one direction, have great influence on the public mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/writers-especially-when-they-act-in-a-body-and-with-one-direction/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I would give them (aspiring writers) the oldest advice in the craft: Read and write. Read a lot. Read new authors and established ones,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-would-give-them-aspiring-writers-the-oldest-advice-in-the-craft/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Everyone wants to be open and inclusive, but nobody wants to pay for it. It's the biggest roadblock to translating living writers, especially poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/everyone-wants-to-be-open-and-inclusive-but-nobody-wants-to-pay-for/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [In Hollywood, they think they know it all. You, as a writer, are essentially an outsider. Novelists and short-story writers, especially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/in-hollywood-they-think-they-know-it-all-you-as-a-writer-are/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [There's this great fashion among writers, especially those who follow the transnational conservatives like V.S. Naipaul, to disavow one's place in the world as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/there-s-this-great-fashion-among-writers-especially-those-who-follow/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [“... I find in all the works of the greatest writers, especially in their unedited letters, some touch, some sign of myself - some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/i-find-in-all-the-works-of-the-greatest-writers-especially-in-their/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [I think there's an element to this business that writers especially are overlooked in many ways and this made everybody kind of look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-allen-bernero/i-think-there-s-an-element-to-this-business-that-writers-especially/) [Edward Allen Bernero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-allen-bernero/) > [Delaying and withholding tactics, red herrings, partial and doubtful outcomes are stock in trade for fiction writers, especially crime writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-disher/delaying-and-withholding-tactics-red-herrings-partial-and-doubtful/) [Garry Disher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-disher/) > [I just think, as writers, especially with a book that takes years to write, you sort of wake up every morning hoping and praying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bollen/i-just-think-as-writers-especially-with-a-book-that-takes-years-to/) [Christopher Bollen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bollen/) > [Writers, especially those of us with roots in other countries, are rarely left to ourselves. We are asked to declare our allegiances, or they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/writers-especially-those-of-us-with-roots-in-other-countries-are/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [Writers, especially poets, are particularly prone to madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-flynn/writers-especially-poets-are-particularly-prone-to-madness/) [Nick Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-flynn/) > [I'm interested in what the virtues of all those things are, especially for the kind of person who's made their own world that revolves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/i-m-interested-in-what-the-virtues-of-all-those-things-are-especially/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) ## 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. Their reflection, crimson as the rising moon, crept to meet us in long,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/at-the-water-s-edge-barrels-of-pitch-blazed-like-huge-bonfires-their/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Anna Petrovna: Never talk to women about your own good qualities. Let them find out for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/anna-petrovna-never-talk-to-women-about-your-own-good-qualities-let/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/while-you-re-playing-cards-with-a-regular-guy-or-having-a-bite-to-eat/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Lebedev: France has a clear and defined policy... The French know what they want. 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make anything out, just as Socrates once admitted it, just as Voltaire admitted it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anton Chekhov" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially-those-who-are-artists-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially-those-who-are-artists-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/975/anton-chekhov-298_art_the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially_2531563.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make…” — Anton Chekhov", "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": "Anton Chekhov", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The time has come for writers,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially-those-who-are-artists-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-time-has-come-for-writers-especially-those-who-are-artists-to/#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 } } ] } ```