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Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov Quotes

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Famous Anton Chekhov Quotes

“You confuse two things: solving a problem and stating a problem correctly. It is only the second that is obligatory for an artist.”

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Book:The Collected Works of Anton Chekhov: Novellas, Short Stories, Plays, Letters & Diary: Three Sisters, Seagull , The Shooting Party, Uncle Vanya, Cherry Orchard, Chameleon, Tripping Tongue, On The Road, Vanka, Ward No. Six, Swedish Match, Nightmare, Bear, Reluctant Hero, Joy…
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“In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations! Be sure not to discuss your hero's state of mind. Make it clear from his actions. Nor is it necessary to portray many main characters. Let two people be the center of gravity in your story: he and she.”

PeopleMindTwoStatesCharacterStoriesActionClearPsychologyMinutesHeroEssentialsState Of MindGravityVagueGeneralizationMain CharactersCenter Of Gravity
Author:Anton Chekhov
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“I often wonder: suppose we could begin life over again, knowing what we were doing? Suppose we could use one life, already ended, as a sort of rough draft for another? I think that every one of us would try, more than anything else, not to repeat himself, at the very least he would rearrange his manner of life, he would make sure of rooms like these, with flowers and light ... I have a wife and two daughters, my wife's health is delicate and so on and so on, and if I had to begin life all over again I would not marry. ... No, no!”

IfsThinkingTryingTwoUseLightRoomsWonderKnowingWifeFlowerDaughterMy WifeRepeatsRoughDelicateTwo DaughtersRough Drafts
Book:The Three Sisters
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“But at the same time, in reality, what a difference there is between the world today, and what it used to be! And with the passage of more time, some two or three hundred years, say, people will look back at our own times with horror, or with sneering laughter, because all of our present day life will appear so clumsy, and burdensome, extraordinarily inept and strange. Yes, certainly, what a life it will be then, what a life!”

PeopleWorldYearsLooksTwoRealityTodayUsedThreeDifferencesStrangeHorrorLaughterHundredUsed To BeMore TimePassagesWorld TodayPresent DayClumsyDay Life
Author:Anton Chekhov
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“We are accustomed to live in hopes of good weather, a good harvest, a nice love-affair, hopes of becoming rich or getting the office of chief of police, but I've never noticed anyone hoping to get wiser. We say to ourselves: it'll be better under a new tsar, and in two hundred years it'll still be better, and nobody tries to make this good time come tomorrow. On the whole, life gets more and more complex every day and moves on its own sweet will, and people get more and more stupid, and get isolated from life in ever-increasing numbers.”

PeopleTryingYearsStillsTwoWholeMovingNumbersRichNiceStupidSweetBecomingTomorrowOfficeHundredPoliceComplexesAffairWhole LifeWeatherChiefsGood TimesIsolatedWiserHarvestAccustomedLove AffairGood Weather
Author:Anton Chekhov
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“He had two lives: one, open, seen and known by all who cared to know, full of relative truth and of relative falsehood, exactly like the lives of his friends and acquaintances; and another life running its course in secret. And through some strange, perhaps accidental, conjunction of circumstances, everything that was essential, of interest and of value to him, everything in which he was sincere and did not deceive himself, everything that made the kernel of his life, was hidden from other people.”

PeopleKnowsMadeTwoRunningValuesCoursesInterestSecretKnownStrangeCircumstancesEssentialsSincereRelativeFalsehoodDeceivingAcquaintanceAnother LifeKernelConjunctionsTwo LivesRelative Truth
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Anton Chekhov (Illustrated)
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“Not only after two or three centuries, but in a million years, life will still be as it was; life does not change, it remains for ever, following its own laws which do not concern us, or which, at any rate, you will never find out. Migrant birds, cranes for example, fly and fly, and whatever thoughts, high or low, enter their heads, they will still fly and not know why or where. They fly and will continue to fly, whatever philosophers come to life among them; they may philosophize as much as they like, only they will fly.”

KnowsYearsMayDoeStillsTwoLawThreeMillionsCenturyExampleLowsBirdConcernRemainsRatePhilosopherFollowingMigrantsCranes
Book:The Three Sisters
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“When one longs for a drink, it seems as though one could drink a whole ocean-that is faith; but when one begins to drink, one can only drink altogether two glasses-that is science.”

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Book:The Life and Genius of Anton Chekhov: Letters, Diary, Reminiscences and Biography: Assorted Collection of Autobiographical Writings of the Renowned Russian Author and Playwright of Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters and The Seagull
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“I will begin with what in my opinion is your lack of restraint. You are like a spectator in a theatre who expresses his enthusiasm so unrestrainedly that he prevents himself and others from hearing. That lack of restraint is particularly noticeable in the descriptions of nature with which you interrupt dialogues; when one reads them, these descriptions, one wishes they were more compact, shorter, say two or three lines.”

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Author:Anton Chekhov
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