Anton Chekhov
29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904
Place of birth: Taganrog, Russian Empire
Most important work: Three Sisters, 1901
Interesting facts:
- Anton Chekhov trained as a physician and often treated patients for free
- His short story, The Lady with the Dog, is considered by many the greatest short story every written.
- He bought a country estate in 1892 called Melikhovo, where he began helping patients of cholera and famine. He built a clinic, fire station and three schools to help the local peasants. He also donated his medical services to help those in need, even while suffering with the symptoms of tuberculosis.
16 beautiful quotes:
1. “Man is what he believes.”
2. “I promise to be an excellent husband, but give me a wife who, like the moon, will not appear every day in my sky.”
3. “One must be a god to be able to tell successes from failures without making a mistake.”
4. “Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.”
5. “How unbearable at times are people who are happy, people for whom everything works out.”
6. “A fiance is neither this nor that: he’s left one shore, but not yet reached the other.”
7. “The thirst for powerful sensations takes the upper hand both over fear and over compassion for the grief of others.”
8. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
9. “We learn about life not from plusses alone, but from minuses as well.”
10. “Write only of what is important and eternal.”
11. “We need new forms of expression. We need new forms, and if we can’t have them we had better have nothing.”
12. “Brevity is the sister of talent.”
13. “Flies purify the air, and plays — the morals.”
14. “In all the universe nothing remains permanent and unchanged but the spirit.”
15. “Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds.”
16. “Any idiot can face a crisis, it’s the day to day living that wears you out.”
