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When Asked, "why Do You Always Wear Black?", He Said, "i Am Mourning For My Life.
-Anton Chekhov
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When Asked, "why Do

Anton Chekhov
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When Asked, "why Do You Always Wear Black?", He Said, "i Am Mourning For My Life.

Understanding the Quote: "when asked, "why do you always wear black?", he said, "i am..."

This quote by Anton Chekhov reflects deeply on the theme of mourning. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Mourning, Black, Said, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Anton Chekhov interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov is celebrated for insightful thoughts on mourning and black. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Mourning
Black
Said
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I Feel More Confident And More Satisfied When I Reflect That I Have Two Professions And Not One. Medicine Is My Lawful Wife And Literature Is My Mistress. When I Get Tired Of One I Spend The Night With The Other. Though It's Disorderly It's Not So Dull, And Besides, Neither Really Loses Anything, Through My Infidelity.
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Neither I Nor Anyone Else Knows What A Standard Is. We All Recognize A Dishonorable Act, But Have No Idea What Honor Is.
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And I Despise Your Books, I Despise Wisdom And The Blessings Of This World. It Is All Worthless, Fleeting, Illusory, And Deceptive, Like A Mirage. You May Be Proud, Wise, And Fine, But Death Will Wipe You Off The Face Of The Earth As Though You Were No More Than Mice Burrowing Under The Floor, And Your Posterity, Your History, Your Immortal Geniuses Will Burn Or Freeze Together With The Earthly Globe.
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Be Sure Not To Discuss Your Hero's State Of Mind. Make It Clear From His Actions.
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Action
And What Does It Mean -- Dying? Perhaps Man Has A Hundred Senses, And Only The Five We Know Are Lost At Death, While The Other Ninety-five Remain Alive.
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People
Boredom
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Grief
Serenity
[ognev] Recalled Endless, Heated, Purely Russian Arguments, When The Wranglers, Spraying Spittle And Banging Their Fists On The Table, Fail To Understand Yet Interrupt One Another, Themselves Not Even Noticing It, Contradict Themselves With Every Phrase, Change The Subject, Then, Having Argued For Two Or Three Hours, Begin To Laugh.
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Laughing
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I Myself Smoke, But My Wife Asked Me To Speak Today On The Harmfulness Of Tobacco, So What Can I Do? If It's Tobacco, Then Let It Be Tobacco.
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Today
Speak
There Will Come A Time When Everybody Will Know Why, For What Purpose, There Is All This Suffering, And There Will Be No More Mysteries. But Now We Must Live ... We Must Work, Just Work!
Suffering
Purpose
Mystery
I Promise To Be A Splendid Husband, But Give Me A Wife Who, Like The Moon, Won't In My Sky Every Day...
Husband
Moon
Sky
Revolting Means For Good Ends Make The Ends Of Themselves Revolting.
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Goal
Achieve
A Writer Should Not So Much Write As Embroider On Paper; The Work Should Be Painstaking, Laborious.
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Paper
Should
An Artist Must Only Judge Of What He Understands, His Field Is Just As Limited As That Of Any Other Specialist... That In His Sphere There Are No Questions, But Only Answers, Can Only Be Maintained By Those Who Have Never Written And Have Had No Experience Of Thinking In Images.
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Criticism
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Wisdom.... Comes Not From Age, But From Education And Learning.
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[six Principles That Make For A Good Story:] 1. Absence Of Lengthy Verbiage Of A Political-social-economic Nature; 2. Total Objectivity; 3. Truthful Descriptions Of Persons And Objects; 4. Extreme Brevity; 5. Audacity And Originality: Flee The Stereotype; 6. Compassion.
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The Personal Life Of Every Individual Is Based On Secrecy, And Perhaps It Is Partly For That Reason That Civilized Man Is So Nervously Anxious That Personal Privacy Should Be Respected.
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..when One Has No Real Life, One Lives By Mirages. It's Still Better Than Nothing.
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Mirages
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There Are People Whom Even Children's Literature Would Corrupt. They Read With Particular Enjoyment The Piquant Passages In The Psalter And In The Wisdom Of Solomon.
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People
Literature
When A Person Expends The Least Amount Of Motion On One Action, That Is Grace.
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Action
Persons
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.
Best Effort
Police
Criticism
Love, Respect, And Friendship Do Unite A People As Well As A Common Hatred Does.
People
Hatred
Doe
Indeed, In Russia There Is A Terrible Poverty Of Facts, And A Terrible Abundance Of Reflections Of All Sorts.
Russia
Suffering
Poverty
Fine. Since The Tea Is Not Forthcoming, Let's Have A Philosophical Conversation.
Philosophical
Tea
Conversation
The Wealthy Man Is Not He Who Has Money, But He Who Has The Means To Live In The Luxurious State Of Early Spring.
Spring
Mean
Men
Nature's Law Says That The Strong Must Prevent The Weak From Living, But Only In A Newspaper Article Or Textbook Can This Be Packaged Into A Comprehensible Thought. In The Soup Of Everyday Life, In The Mixture Of Minutia From Which Human Relations Are Woven, It Is Not A Law. It Is A Logical Incongruity When Both Strong And Weak Fall Victim To Their Mutual Relations, Unconsciously Subservient To Some Unknown Guiding Power That Stands Outside Of Life, Irrelevant To Man.
Nature
Strong
Fall
In Nature A Repulsive Caterpillar Turns Into A Lovely Butterfly. But With Human Beings It Is The Other Way Round: A Lovely Butterfly Turns Into A Repulsive Caterpillar.
Nature
Butterfly
Lovely
Just As I Shall Lie Alone In The Grave, So, In Essence, Do I Live Alone.
Lying
Essence
Graves
I'm In Mourning For My Life.
Mourning
All Of Life And Human Relations Have Become So Incomprehensibly Complex That, When You Think About It, It Becomes Terrifying And Your Heart Stands Still.
Heart
Thinking
Scary
Satiation, Like Any State Of Vitality, Always Contains A Degree Of Impudence, And That Impudence Emerges First And Foremost When The Sated Man Instructs The Hungry One.
Men
Vitality
Degrees
It's Better To Live Down A Scandal Than To Ruin One's Life.
Scandal
Ruins
I Have No Will Of My Own. Never Did. Limp And Lily-livered, I Always Obey - Is It Possible That's Attractive To Women?
Lilies
Attractive
My Own
I Can Only Regard With Bewilderment An Educated Man Who Is Also Religious
Religious
Men
Educated
Man Has Been Endowed With Reason, With The Power To Create, So That He Can Add To What He's Been Given.
Inspirational
Men
Wild Life
My Mother And Father Are The Only People On The Whole Planet For Whom I Will Never Begrudge A Thing. Should I Achieve Great Things, It Is The Work Of Their Hands; They Are Splendid People And Their Absolute Love Of Their Children Places Them Above The Highest Praise. It Cloaks All Of Their Shortcomings, Shortcomings That May Have Resulted From A Difficult Life.
Mother
Children
Father
What Seems To Us Serious, Significant And Important Will, In Future Times, Be Forgotten Or Won't Seem Important At All.
Important
Serious
Forgotten
Time Will Pass, And We Shall Go Away For Ever, And We Shall Be Forgotten, Our Faces Will Be Forgotten, Our Voices, And How Many There Were Of Us; But Our Sufferings Will Pass Into Joy For Those Who Will Live After Us, Happiness And Peace Will Be Established Upon Earth, And They Will Remember Kindly And Bless Those Who Have Lived Before.
Time
Voice
Joy
One Can Prove Or Refute Anything At All With Words. Soon People Will Perfect Language Technology To Such An Extent That They'll Be Proving With Mathematical Precision That Twice Two Is Seven.
Technology
Two
People
If You Fear Loneliness, Then Don't Get Married.
Marriage
Fear
Loneliness
I Have The Feeling That I've Seen Everything, But Failed To Notice The Elephants.
Elephants
Feelings
To Describe Drunkenness For The Colorful Vocabulary Is Rather Cynical. There Is Nothing Easier Than To Capitalize On Drunkards.
Drinking
Vocabulary
Cynical
A Person Loves To Talk About His Illnesses Although That Is The Least Interesting Part Of His Life.
Medicine
Interesting
Illness
The Critics Suppose That It Is Easy To Write A Play. They Aren't Aware That Writing A Good Play Is Difficult And Writing A Bad One Is Twice As Hard.
Writing
Play
Theatre
The Stupider The Peasant, The Better The Horse Understands Him.
Funny
Horse
Stupidity
When Men Ask Me How I Know So Much About Men, They Get A Simple Answer: Everything I Know About Men, I Learned From Me.
Writing
Simple
Men
How Unbearable At Times Are People Who Are Happy, People For Whom Everything Works Out.
Happiness
Frustration
People
A Good Upbringing Means Not That You Won't Spill Sauce On The Tablecloth, But That You Won't Notice It When Someone Else Does.
Mean
Doe
Literature
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.
Disappointment
Path
Stills
An Expansive Life, One Not Constrained By Four Walls, Requires As Well An Expansive Pocket.
Wall
Four
Pockets
If 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?
Funny
Failure
Communication
Once A Man Gets A Fixed Idea, There's Nothing To Be Done.
Men
Ideas
Done
No Psychologist Should Pretend To Understand What He Does Not Understand... Only Fools And Charlatans Know Everything And Understand Nothing.
Fake People
Psychology
Doe
The University Brings Out All Abilities, Including Incapability.
Literature
Incapability
University
It's Easier To Write About Socrates Than About A Young Woman Or A Cook.
Writing
Literature
Easier
A Sweet Lie Is More Gracious For Us Than A Virulent But Real Truth.
Sweet
Real
Lying
It's Not A Matter Of Old Or New Forms; A Person Writes Without Thinking About Any Forms, He Writes Because It Flows Freely From His Soul.
Writing
Thinking
Soul
If There's A Gun On The Wall In Act One, Scene One, You Must Fire The Gun By Act Three, Scene Two. If You Fire A Gun In Act Three, Scene Two, You Must See The Gun On The Wall In Act One, Scene One.
Wall
Book
Gun
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 . . . One Must Ruthlessly Suppress Everything That Is Not Concerned With The Subject. If, In The First Chapter, You Say There Is A Gun Hanging On The Wall, You Should Make Quite Sure That It Is Going To Be Used Further On In The Story.
Wall
Lying
Gun
A Grimy Fly Can Soil The Entire Wall And A Small, Dirty Little Act Can Ruin The Entire Proceedings.
Wall
Dirty
Ruins
In My Opinion It Is Harmful To Place Important Things In The Hands Of Philanthropy, Which In Russia Is Marked By A Chance Character. Nor Should Important Matters Depend On Leftovers, Which Are Never There. I Would Prefer That The Government Treasury Take Care Of It.
Character
Russia
Government
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.
Clever
Writing
Thinking
Of Course Politics Is An Interesting And Engrossing Thing. It Offers No Immutable Laws, Nearly Always Prevaricates, But As Far Asblather And Sharpening The Mind Go, It Provides Inexhaustible Material.
Law
Interesting
Mind
You Are Right In Demanding That An Artist Should Take An Intelligent Attitude To His Work, But You Confuse Two Things: Solving A Problem And Stating A Problem Correctly.
Artist
Two
Different
Everything Should Be First-rate In A Person, His Face, Clothes, Soul And Thoughts.
Clothes
Soul
Excellence
Medicine Is My Lawful Wife And Literature My Mistress; When I Get Tired Of One, I Spend The Night With The Other.
Tired
Science
Night
We All Have Too Many Wheels, Screws And Valves To Judge Each Other On First Impressions Or One Or Two Pointers. I Don't Understand You, You Don't Understand Me And We Don't Understand Ourselves.
Two
Judging
First Impression
What's The Use Of Talking? You Can See For Yourself That This Is A Barbarous Country; The People Have No Morals; And The Boredom!
Country
Talking
People
The More Simply We Look At Ticklish Questions, The More Placid Will Be Our Lives And Relationships.
Looks
Ticklish
Placid
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