I agree that one can't dispense with the reins and the whip altogether, for knaves find their way even into literature, but no thinking will discover a better police for literature than the critics and the author's own conscience.
Anton ChekhovMy 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.
Anton ChekhovAh, Caviar! I keep on eating it, but can never get my fill. Like olives. It's a lucky thing it's not salty.
Anton ChekhovIf you cry ''Forward'' you must be sure to make clear the direction in which to go. Don't you see that if you fail to do that and simply call out the word to a monk and a revolutionary, they will go in precisely opposite directions?
Anton ChekhovTo dine, drink champagne, raise a racket and make speeches about the people's consciousness, the people's conscience, freedom andso forth while servants in tails are scurrying around your table, just like serfs, and out in the severe cold on the street await coachmen--this is the same as lying to the holy spirit.
Anton Chekhov