This man, who for twenty-five years has been reading and writing about art, and in all that time has never understood anything about art, has for twe… - Anton Chekhov

You are right to demand that an artist engage his work consciously, but you confuse two different things: solving the problem and correctly posing the question.

Sasha: Men don't understand a lot of things. Every young girl is going to be drawn more to a failure than to a successful man, because they're all attracted by the notion of active love... Do you understand? Active. Men are busy with their work, and therefore for them love is something right in the background. A conversation with the wife, a stroll with her in the garden, a nice time, a cry on her grave - that's all. But for us love is life. I love you, that means that I dream of how I'll cure you of your depression, of how I'll go with you to the ends of the earth...

When you're up, so am I; when you're down, so am I. ... The more work there is, the better love is ...

A woman can only become a man's friend after having first been his acquaintance and then his beloved — then she becomes his friend.