"Without a knowledge of languages you feel as if you don’t have a passport."

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!”

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

“Writers are as jealous as pigeons.”

“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.”

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

“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

"England’s made a Jew of me in only eight weeks, which, on reflection, might be the least painful method. A Jew without Jews, without Judaism, without Zionism, without Jewishness, without a temple or a…"

— Philip Roth

Literature1933–2018

#justice

"In our thinking there is no longer any spark of the uplifting flight of concepts or of the ecstasies of understanding. We are enlightened, we are apathetic. No one talks anymore of a love of wisdom. T…"

— Peter Sloterdijk

Philosophy1947

#knowledge

"To dwell on a heath without studying its meanings was like wedding a foreigner without learning his tongue. The subtle beauties of the heath were lost to Eustacia; she only caught its vapours. An envi…"

— Thomas Hardy

Literature1840–1928

#knowledge

"The approach and strategies are very similar in that you gather all the information you can and then keep adding to that base of information as things develop. You do whatever the probabilities indica…"

— Warren Buffett

Business1930

#knowledge