Anton Chekhov
Master of the short story and modern drama
Most quoted
"Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he has been given. But up to now he has not created, but only destroyed. Forests are disappearing, rivers are drying up, wildlife is becoming extinct, the climate is spoiled, and every day the earth is growing poorer and uglier."
— from Uncle Vanya, 1897
"If you want to be a pessimist and write a novel, you must be a pessimist and write a novel. If you want to be an optimist and write a novel, you must be an optimist and write a novel. But if you want to be a realist and write a novel, you must be a realist and write a novel."
— from Letters
"The people I am afraid of are the ones who look for tendentiousness between the lines and are determined to see me as either liberal or conservative. I am not a liberal, not a conservative... I should have liked to be a free artist and that's all."
— from Letter to A.S. Suvorin, 1888
All quotes by Anton Chekhov (291)
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
If you want to understand life, don't think about it. Live it.
Life is a vexatious game; but we must play it to the end.
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
The artist must not be a judge of his characters and their conversations, but merely an impartial witness.
Life is given to us for a short time, but we must live it beautifully and meaningfully.
If you want to work for the good of humanity, you must be a pessimist.
The more highly developed a man is, the more he suffers.
What is life? A series of mistakes, and a search for truth.
Man is a creature that can get used to anything.
The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to make him calm and reconciled.
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
Only that which is true and beautiful is eternal.
To live means to feel, to think, to suffer, to be happy, to be immersed in life.
There is no death, only a change of worlds.
The more refined and subtle a man's mind, the more he is capable of suffering.
The earth is beautiful, and it's a pity that we don't live forever.
The highest form of human intelligence is to observe without judgment.
Man is endowed with reason and the power to create, so that he may increase what has been given to him.
We shall work for others, and when we are old, we shall have no fear of death.
Contemporaries of Anton Chekhov
Other Literatures born within 50 years of Anton Chekhov (1860–1904).