Anton Chekhov Quotes

Faith is an aptitude of the spirit. It is, in fact, a talent: you must be born with it.

Probably nature itself gave man the ability to lie so that in difficult and tense moments he could protect his nest, just as do the vixen and wild duck.

The thirst for powerful sensations takes the upper hand both over fear and over compassion for the grief of others.

I myself smoke, but my wife asked me to speak today on the harmfulness of tobacco, so what can I do? If it’s tobacco, then let it be tobacco.

A fiancé is neither this nor that: he’s left one shore, but not yet reached the other.

Watching a woman make Russian pancakes, you might think that she was calling on the spirits or extracting from the batter the philosopher’s stone.

By nature servile, people attempt at first glance to find signs of good breeding in the appearance of those who occupy more exalted stations.

Once you’ve married, be strict but just with your wife, don’t allow her to forget herself, and when a misunderstanding arises, say: “Don’t forget that I made you happy.”

Love is a scandal of the personal sort.

If only one tooth aches, rejoice that not all of them ache.... If your wife betrays you, be glad that she betrayed only you and not the nation.

Better a debauched canary than a pious wolf.

We live not in order to eat, but in order not to know what we feel like eating.

Eyes—the head’s chief of police. They watch and make mental notes. A blind person is like a city abandoned by the authorities. On sad days they cry. In these carefree times they weep only from tender emotions.

That can not possibly be, because it could never possibly be.

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.