"Exquisite nature, daydreams, and music say one thing, real life another."

Anton Chekhov Literature See all quotes by Anton Chekhov →

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More by Anton Chekhov

“The world is a fine place. The only thing wrong with it is us. How little justice and humility there is in us, how poorly we understand patriotism!”

“Writers are as jealous as pigeons.”

“Despicable means used to achieve laudable goals render the goals themselves despicable.”

“Moscow is a city that has much suffering ahead of it.”

“It’s worth living abroad to study up on genteel and delicate manners. The maid smiles continuously; she smiles like a duchess on a stage, while at the same time it is clear from her face that she is exhausted from overwork.”

“There are no lower or higher or median moralities. There is only one morality, and it is precisely the one that was given to us during the time of Jesus Christ and that stops me, you and Barantsevich from stealing, offending others, lying etc.”

Resonant Thoughts

"He sat still a long time. Music will not save us, Otto Egorin had said. Not you, or me, or her, the big golden-voiced woman who had no children and wanted none; not Lehmann who sang the song; not Schu…"

— Ursula K. Le Guin

Literature1929–2018

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"I somehow always have this idea that as soon as I can get through this work that’s piled up ahead of me, I’ll really write a beautiful thing. But I never do. I always have the idea that someday, someh…"

— Rose Wilder Lane

Literature1886–1968

#life

"I never want to be on a pedestal. Because the same people who put you on a pedestal will throw you of it. I really don't want to be appreciated to the extent that I start living for their appreciation…"

— Ekta Kapoor

Entertainment1975

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"The question is not whether Hitler supported the left during the revolution, which he clearly did, but what kind of left-wing ideas and groups he supported or at least accepted. As Hitler served all l…"

— Thomas Weber (historian)

Education1969

#life