Good breeding doesn't mean that you won't spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won't notice when someone else does.

— Anton Chekhov

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Good breeding doesn't mean that you won't spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won't notice when someone else does." in the context of "The House with the Mezzanine (1896)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Anton Chekhov" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Anton Chekhov

About Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Анто́н Па́влович Че́хов) (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) (Old Style: 17 January 1860 – 2 July 1904) was a Russian short story writer and playwright.