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.

Try to reason about love, and you will lose your reason.

My love is like a stone tied round my neck; it's dragging me down to the bottom; but I love my stone. I can't live without it.

Who keeps the tavern and serves up the drinks? The peasant. Who squanders and drinks up money belonging to the peasant commune, the school, the church? The peasant. Who would steal from his neighbor, commit arson, and falsely denounce another for a bottle of vodka? The peasant.

Try to be original in your play and as clever as possible; but don't be afraid to show yourself foolish; we must have freedom of thinking, and only he is an emancipated thinker who is not afraid to write foolish things.

My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.

If I were asked to chose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It's better to live somehow than not at all.