Do you see that tree? It is dead but it still sways in the wind with the others. I think it would be like that with me. That if I died I would still … - Anton Chekhov

No matter how corrupt and unjust a convict may be, he loves fairness more than anything else. If the people placed over him are unfair, from year to year he lapses into an embittered state characterized by an extreme lack of faith.

If you can’t distinguish people from lap-dogs, you shouldn’t undertake philanthropic work.

I felt, as it were, at home in this small snug house where there were no oleographs on the walls and where the servants were spoken to with civility. And everything seemed to me young and pure, thanks to the presence of Lida and Misuce, and there was an atmosphere of refinement over everything.