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This life of ours...human life is like a flower gloriously blooming in a meadow: along comes a goat, eats it up---no more flower.
Anton Chekhov
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Life is brief and can be interrupted unexpectedly.

Chekhov's quote reflects the fragility and transience of human life, comparing it to a flower that blooms beautifully but can be destroyed at any moment, much like how life can be abruptly cut short by unforeseen circumstances. It serves as a reminder to appreciate the beauty in life while acknowledging its impermanence.

Themes

LifeFragilityBeautyImpermanenceAppreciation

In practice

Example use cases

During a graduation speech to remind students to cherish every moment.

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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.
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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.
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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?
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