Did Chekhov say: “If a person doesn’t smoke or drink, you inevitably wonder: isn’t he a bastard?”

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This quote is attributed to the famous writer both on the Internet and beyond. We decided to check if Chekhov (or one of his heroes) said something similar.

Many internet users are discussing this phrase on websites questions and answers And are interested, from which one works Chekhov these words. Occurs quote on social networks, entertainment resources, to "Peekaboo", V blogs V "LiveJournal", on websites And in books with collections of aphorisms, at specialized bookstores portals. You can find it in online stores postcards with a photo of Chekhov and this phrase. Similar pictures popular on the Internet too. Sometimes there are slightly different versions this quotes: “If a person doesn’t drink or smoke, you will inevitably think: scoundrel is he? and “If a person does not drink, does not smoke and shuns society of young ladies, then the question involuntarily arises: and not bastard is he?

Despite the fact that the phrase attributed to Chekhov is very common on the Internet, nothing similar could be found in the National Corpus of the Russian Language - the largest digital database of texts from the 11th century to the present day. exact quote, nor individually phrases from her. There is no such statement and in full meeting the writer's works.

Earliest mention quotes about non-drinking and non-smoking bastards, which we managed to find, were heard in the series “Deadly Force” - in the first episode of the third season, released in 2001. The following dialogue takes place between the characters:

- “Drunkenness is a conscious exercise in madness” - Pythagoras.

- And Anton Palych Chekhov used to say differently: “If a person doesn’t drink or smoke, you inevitably wonder: isn’t he a bastard?”

It is unknown whether the scriptwriters came up with this phrase or whether they also heard it somewhere earlier precisely as a Chekhovian aphorism. By the way, the quote attributed in this dialogue Pythagoras, most likely, is attributed incorrectly. The fact is that the philosopher himself did not leave behind any written sources and there is not even a detailed retelling of his thoughts recorded by any of his contemporaries. Everything we know about him was written after his death. Even if we assume that some of his statements were passed down from mouth to mouth, were eventually written down and came to us without distortion, it is unlikely that this would be a quote about drunkenness. Although this phrase really attributed to ancient philosopher quite often, and not only in Russian-speaking segment Internet.

Despite the fact that the Chekhov quote was allegedly mentioned in the series back in the early 2000s, judging by results search on Google, it began to actively spread on the Internet only in 2010–2011. 

Russian classics actually have similar thoughts. For example, Woland in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita“He said: “Something, your will, evil lurks in men who avoid wine, games, the company of lovely women, table conversation. Such people are either seriously ill or secretly hate those around them.” Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin in “Letters about the province"There is also a similar quote: "An unsociable person, a person who does not take part in provincial folles journées (from the French “crazy days”; the last day of Maslenitsa, filled with various festivities and amusements. - Note “Checked”), must certainly be an ill-intentioned and malicious person.” However, the first part of this phrase is often distort, replacing “provincial folles journées” with “drinking parties”. Perhaps someone simply paraphrased one of these quotes and mistakenly attributed it to another Russian classic. 

Chekhov known their aphorisms, so it’s really not difficult to assume that he could have written something like that. However, there is not a single evidence that he ever wrote or spoke about this - neither on his own behalf, nor through the lips of one of the heroes of his works. 

Update 01/23/23: After publishing the analysis, thanks to a tip from one of our readers, we found an even earlier case of the use of this quote in connection with the name of Chekhov. The phrase “If a person does not smoke or drink, it is necessary to check whether he is a bastard” pronounces (04:10) hero of the one-man show “Merry Cemetery"(director - Kirill Chernozemov, performer - People's Artist of Russia Igor Volkov) based on the works of Chekhov. Premiere of the play took place in 1991. It was probably there that this phrase was heard for the first time, but it was not taken from any Chekhov text, but was invented by the creators of the play.

Cover photo: Anton Chekhov 1901, photo taken in the Chekhov museum in Badenweiler, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Incorrect quote attribution

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

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2. Did Chekhov write that every fool can cope with a crisis?
3. Did Benjamin Franklin say, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”?