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
Do you remember you shot a seagull? A man came by chance, saw it and destroyed it, just to pass the time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the careless destruction of life for mere amusement and questions the value of such actions.
Chekhov's quote highlights the senselessness of taking life—symbolized by the seagull—merely for the sake of distraction or momentary entertainment. It encourages reflection on the impact of our actions and the deeper ethical considerations about how we treat living beings, suggesting that such carelessness not only affects the world around us but speaks volumes about human nature itself.
Themes
SeagullDestructionCarelessnessHumanityAmusement
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a discussion on the importance of compassion for living beings.
More from Anton Chekhov
All quotes →There 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.
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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.
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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?
Anton ChekhovRead
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