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Better a debauched canary than a pious wolf.

Anton Chekhov

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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
Canaries
Pious
Wolf
Better
Debauched
Canary

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In nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with human beings it is the other way round: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar.
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If you are afraid of loneliness, do not marry.
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In two or three hundred years life on earth will be unimaginably beautiful, astounding. Man needs such a life and if it hasn't yetappeared, he should begin to anticipate it, wait for it, dream about it, prepare for it. To achieve this, he has to see and know more than did his grandfather and father.
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And only now, when he was gray-haired, had he fallen in love properly, thoroughly, for the first time in his life.
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Everything should be first-rate in a person, his face, clothes, soul and thoughts.
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I confess I seldom commune with my conscience when I write.
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In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations! Be sure not to discuss your hero's state of mind. Make it clear from his actions. Nor is it necessary to portray many main characters. Let two people be the center of gravity in your story: he and she.
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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.
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Dear, sweet, unforgettable childhood! Why does this irrevocable time, forever departed, seem brighter, more festive and richer than it actually was?
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Only entropy comes easy.
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I divide all literary works into two categories: Those I like and those I don't like. No other criterion exists for me.
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Only one who loves can remember so well.
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It's easier to ask for money from the poor than from the wealthy.
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A woman is fascinated not by art but by the noise made by those in the field.
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Only during hard times do people come to understand how difficult it is to be master of their feelings and thoughts.
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Exquisite nature, daydreams, and music say one thing, real life another.
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To dine, drink champagne, raise a racket and make speeches about the people's consciousness, the people's conscience, freedom andso forth while servants in tails are scurrying around your table, just like serfs, and out in the severe cold on the street await coachmen--this is the same as lying to the holy spirit.
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If I were asked to chose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It's better to live somehow than not at all.
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