Quote

The task of a writer is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly.

Anton Chekhov

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Anton Chekhov
Age: 44 †
Born: 1860
Born: January 1
Died: 1904
Died: January 1
Author
Dramaturge
Journalist
Novelist
Physician
Playwright
Prosaist
Satirist
Writer
Tahanroh
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Antón Pávlovič Čéhov
Antón Pávlovich Chékhov
Chekhov
Tasks
Solve
Writer
State
Problem
States
Correctly
Task

More quotes by Anton Chekhov

Image
The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.
Anton Chekhov
Image
[In] death at least there would be one profit it would no longer be necessary to eat, to drink, to pay taxes, or to [offend] others and as a man lies in his grave not one year, but hundreds and thousands of years, the profit was enormous. The life of man was, in short, a loss, and only his death a profit.
Anton Chekhov
Image
The wealthy are always surrounded by hangers-on science and art are as well.
Anton Chekhov
Image
At the door of every happy person there should be a man with a hammer whose knock would serve as a constant reminder of the existence of unfortunate people.
Anton Chekhov
Image
Moscow is a city that has much suffering ahead of it.
Anton Chekhov
Image
He who desires nothing, hopes for nothing, and is afraid of nothing, cannot be an artist.
Anton Chekhov
Image
I don't like being successful the subjects which sit in my head are annoyed and jealous of what has already been written.
Anton Chekhov
Image
Dear, sweet, unforgettable childhood! Why does this irrevocable time, forever departed, seem brighter, more festive and richer than it actually was?
Anton Chekhov
Image
A sweet lie is more gracious for us than a virulent but real truth.
Anton Chekhov
Image
Never bring a cannon on stage in Act I unless you intend to fire it by the last act.
Anton Chekhov
Image
If you can't distinguish people from lap-dogs, you shouldn't undertake philanthropic work.
Anton Chekhov
Image
I can't accept our nervous age, since mankind has been nervous during every age. Whoever fears nervousness should turn into a sturgeon or smelt if a sturgeon makes a stupid mistake, it can only be one: to end up on a hook, and then in a pan in a pastry shell.
Anton Chekhov
Image
If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.
Anton Chekhov
Image
There isn't a Monday that would not cede its place to Tuesday.
Anton Chekhov
Image
Art, especially the stage, is an area where it is impossible to walk without stumbling. There are in store for you many unsuccessful days and whole unsuccessful seasons: there will be great misunderstandings and deep disappointments… you must be prepared for all this, expect it and nevertheless, stubbornly, fanatically follow your own way.
Anton Chekhov
Image
..when one has no real life, one lives by mirages. It's still better than nothing.
Anton Chekhov
Image
There are plenty of good people, but only a very, very few are precise and disciplined.
Anton Chekhov
Image
I abide by a rule concerning reviews: I will never ask, neither in writing nor in person, that a word be put in about my book.... One feels cleaner this way. When someone asks that his book be reviewed he risks running up against a vulgarity offensive to authorial sensibilities.
Anton Chekhov
Image
[Ognev] recalled endless, heated, purely Russian arguments, when the wranglers, spraying spittle and banging their fists on the table, fail to understand yet interrupt one another, themselves not even noticing it, contradict themselves with every phrase, change the subject, then, having argued for two or three hours, begin to laugh.
Anton Chekhov
Image
Fine. Since the tea is not forthcoming, let's have a philosophical conversation.
Anton Chekhov