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. - Anton Chekhov

And he judged of others by himself, not believing in what he saw, and always believing that every man had his real, most interesting life under the cover of secrecy and under the cover of night. All personal life rested on secrecy, and possibly it was partly on that account that civilised man was so nervously anxious that personal privacy should be respected.

As a rule, however fine and deep a phrase may be, it only affects the indifferent, and cannot fully satisfy those who are happy or unhappy; that is why dumbness is most often the highest expression of happiness or unhappiness; lovers understand each other better when they are silent, and a fervent, passionate speech delivered by the grave only touches outsiders, while to the widow and children of the dead man it seems cold and trivial.

رأسي مكتظ ، ممتلئ إلى حافته بالأفكار ، و استطيع أن أحس بنبضه و اختلاجاته . أنا لا أهدف إلى أن أكون شيئا غير عادي ، و لا أتوقع أن أخلق إحدي الروائع ، كل ما أريده هو أن أعيش ، و أحلم ، و أتطلع ، و لا يفوتني شئ .. الحياة يا صديقى العزيز ، قصيرة جدا ، و يجب أن نستغلها بأقصي ما نستطيع