Anton Chekhov

The State is not God. It has not the right to take away what it cannot restore when it wants to.

In my opinion it is not the writer's job to solve such problems as God, pessimism, etc; his job is merely to record who, under what conditions, said or thought what about God or pessimism. The artist is not meant to be a judge of his characters and what they say; his only job is to be an impartial witness. I heard two Russians in a muddled conversation about pessimism, a conversation that solved nothing; all I am bound to do is reproduce that conversation exactly as I heard it. Drawing conclusions is up to the jury, that is, the readers. My only job is to be talented, that is, to know how to distinguish important testimony from unimportant, to place my characters in the proper light and speak their language.

My own experience is that once a story has been written one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying . . . one must ruthlessly suppress everything that is not concerned with the subject. If in the first chapter you say there is a gun hanging on the wall you should make quite sure that it is going to be used further on in the story.

When describing nature, a writer should seize upon small details, arranging them so that the reader will see an image in his mind after he closes his eyes. For instance: you will capture the truth of a moonlit night if you'll write that a gleam like starlight shone from the pieces of a broken bottle, and then the dark, plump shadow of a dog or wolf appeared. You will bring life to nature only if you don't shrink from similes that liken its activities to those of humankind.", May 10, 1886)

Posterity will say as usual: "In the past things were better the present is worse than the past."

Conciseness is the sister of talent.

Man is what he believes.

A man and a woman marry because both of them don't know what to do with themselves.

Medicine is my lawful wife. Literature is my mistress.

Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.

In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!", May 10, 1886)

Men are made for happiness and anyone who is completely happy has a right to say to himself: "I am doing God's will on earth."

If you cry "Forward " you must make plain in what direction to go.

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

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

When an actor has money he doesn't send letters but telegrams.

The teacher must be an actor, an artist,passionately in love with his work.

Don't forget either, you unhappy man, that voluntary confinement is a great deal harder to bear than compulsory.