Letter to A.S. Suvorin (September 11, 1888)

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.

— Anton Chekhov

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "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." in the context of "Letter to A.S. Suvorin (September 11, 1888)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Anton Chekhov" (Quotes, Letters) 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.