Anton Chekhov: When asked, "Why do you always wear black?", he said, "...

Do silly things. Foolishness is a great deal more vital and healthy than our straining and striving after a meaningful life.

Anton Chekhov

healthy silly meaningful

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

Anton Chekhov

success morning life

Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as common hatred for something.

Anton Chekhov

respect hate friendship

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

Anton Chekhov

moon writing inspirational

There is nothing more awful, insulting, and depressing than banality.

Anton Chekhov

being-yourself depressing insulting

The task of a writer is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly.

Anton Chekhov

tasks states problem

A good upbringing means not that you won't spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won't notice it when someone else does.

Anton Chekhov

literature doe mean

Everything on earth is beautiful, everything -- except what we ourselves think and do when we forget the higher purposes of life and our own human dignity.

Anton Chekhov

nature beautiful beauty

People should be beautiful in every way - in their faces, in the way they dress, in their thoughts, and in their innermost selves.

Anton Chekhov

self beautiful people

What a fine weather today! Can’t choose whether to drink tea or to hang myself.

Anton Chekhov

sarcastic humorous funny

If I wanted to order a ring for myself, the inscription I should choose would be: "Nothing passes away." I believe that nothing passes away without leaving a trace, and that every step we take, however small, has significance for our present and our future existence.

Anton Chekhov

leaving order believe

When a person is born, he can embark on only one of three roads of life: if you go right, the wolves will eat you; if you go left, you’ll eat the wolves; if you go straight, you’ll eat yourself.

Anton Chekhov

born three persons

Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.

Anton Chekhov

technology practice knowledge

If in the first act you introduce a gun, by the third act you have to use it.

Anton Chekhov

gun use firsts

Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.

Anton Chekhov

doctors humor funny

Try to reason about love, and you will lose your reason.

Anton Chekhov

loses reason trying

It is time for writers to admit that nothing in this world makes sense. Only fools and charlatans think they know and understand everything. The stupider they are, the wider they conceive their horizons to be. And if an artist decides to declare that he understands nothing of what he sees - this in itself constitutes a considerable clarity in the realm of thought, and a great step forward.

Anton Chekhov

artist time thinking

Art, especially the stage, is an area where it is impossible to walk without stumbling. There are in store for you many unsuccessful days and whole unsuccessful seasons: there will be great misunderstandings and deep disappointments… you must be prepared for all this, expect it and nevertheless, stubbornly, fanatically follow your own way.

Anton Chekhov

motivational inspirational art

My love is like a stone tied round my neck; it's dragging me down to the bottom; but I love my stone. I can't live without it.

Anton Chekhov

necks stones love-is

Life is given only once, and one wants to live it boldly, with full conscious and beauty.

Anton Chekhov

conscious life-is want

When asked, "Why do you always wear black?", he said, "I am mourning for my life.