If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there.
Anton ChekhovRead
Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of showing rather than just telling, highlighting the beauty in details and subtleties.
Anton Chekhov's quote reminds us that the true essence of experiences is often found in the small details and evocative imagery rather than mere statements. By urging us to 'show' rather than 'tell,' Chekhov encourages a deeper appreciation for how we express observations and emotions, suggesting that the richness of life is revealed through our perceptions and interpretations.
Themes
ShowDetailsArtistryPerceptionExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a photography workshop to illustrate the importance of capturing emotions through details.
More from Anton Chekhov
All quotes βThere are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments , but you have to prepare for that, you have to expect it and be resolute and follow your own path.
Anton ChekhovRead
Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
Anton ChekhovRead
To a chemist, nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist; he must abandon the subjective line; he must know that dungheaps play a very respectable part in a landscape, and that evil passions are as inherent in life as good ones.
Anton ChekhovRead
When you want to touch the reader's heart, try to be colder. It gives their grief as it were, a background, against which it stands out in greater relief.
Anton ChekhovRead
Why are we worn out? Why do we, who start out so passionate, brave, noble, believing, become totally bankrupt by the age of thirty or thirty-five? Why is it that one is extinguished by consumption, another puts a bullet in his head, a third seeks oblivion in vodka, cards, a fourth, in order to stifle fear and anguish, cynically tramples underfoot the portrait of his pure, beautiful youth? Why is it that, once fallen, we do not try to rise, and, having lost one thing, we do not seek another? Why?
Anton ChekhovRead
Similar quotes
What I mean by 'abstract' is something which comes to life spontaneously through a gamut of contrasts, plastic at the same time as psychic, and pervades both the picture and the eye of the spectator with conceptions of new and unfamiliar elements.
Marc ChagallRead
At the point where I'm trying to force something and it's not happening, and I'm getting frustrated with, say, writing a poem, I can go and pick up the brushes and start painting. At the point where the painting seems to not be going anywhere, I go and pick up the guitar.
Joni MitchellRead
It's always been difficult to make a good record. To be perfectly honest with you, it's really about the person that's pushing the buttons. No matter what type of equipment you have, you still have to have a certain talent to be able to make a good record.
Dr. DreRead
I am a writer... I am a genius of a writer; I have it in me. I am writing the best poems of my life; they will make my name.
Sylvia PlathRead
but as God said, crossing his legs, I see where I have made plenty of poets but not so very much poetry.
Charles BukowskiRead
Everything was a song. Every conversation, every personal hurt, every observance of people in stress, happiness and love... if you could feel it, I could feel it. And I could write a song about it.
Curtis MayfieldRead