The 8 Characteristics of Truly Cultured People According to Anton Chekhov

What does it mean, exactly, to be an educated person? There are many cultural habits and concerns that we could identify with this group of people, and sometimes it is not very clear if these characteristics really tell us about someone’s way of thinking or are simply a description of the ways in which they express themselves. his pride or vanity.

Sometimes, what we know as educated people are nothing more than members of the upper classes who have had the privilege of having access to books, movies and other cultural products that are too luxurious to be afforded by the majority of the people. In others, What we call culture is a simple facade that is used to achieve power of influence

Both options were despised by the young Anton Chekhov, born in 1860, who would grow up to be one of the most important Russian writers in history. However, Chekhov did believe in the existence of truly cultured people and in one of his letters to his brother Nikolai he talked about the eight characteristics that, according to him, define them.

The truly cultured people according to Anton Chekhov

Nikolai, who at the time his younger brother Anton wrote him the letter was 28 years old, was beginning to be a recognized painter and educated people were beginning to be interested in him. Due to this fact, Anton Chekhov He included in one of his letters to Nikolai a list of what, for him, are the characteristics that define cultured people so that his brother could see to what extent he did not belong to that type of circle.

In this way, Anton Chekhov tried to encourage his brother to undertake the lifestyle of truly cultured people, away from any trace of vanity and superficiality, and to start working every day to train in that direction.

Beyond the intentions that Chekhov’s 26-year-old Anton had at the time of writing this text (which can be found in the collection of Chekhov’s letters), anyone can find in this list of characteristics a reasonable way to identify Chekhov. cultured people. It is summarized below.

1. They are kind and respect others

Chekhov maintained that, by default, everyone is treated with respect and kindness by educated people This means that they never prejudge those they don’t know and that they are polite to everyone, without doing favors only to people who can return them.

2. They show sympathy not only for beggars and cats

The cultured people take the initiative to help others and they worry about people with whom they have made little or no contact.

3. They respect the property of others

The cultured people They know that stealing is not the only way to damage other people’s property and therefore they pay all their debts.

4. They flee from lies

Educated people do not lie even in the smallest details They consider lying as a lack of respect towards the interlocutor and show themselves on the street as they are at home.

5. They do not manipulate or allow themselves to be manipulated by compassion

They are not afraid to arouse compassion in others nor do they try to produce compassion to take advantage of the favor of others.

6. They do not embrace vanity

The cultured people They do not try to associate with other people simply because they are popular or powerful Nor do they preen to speculate on their own public image.

7. They cultivate their talents

If they have a talent, educated people strive to develop it, and sacrifice immediate pleasures for it.

8. They develop aesthetic intuition

They are not only concerned with living life through a pragmatic sense of usefulness, but they think about what they do in aesthetic terms Therefore, especially if they are artists, they reject some habits simply because of the aesthetic appreciations they have about them.

Another conception of culture

In his letter, Chekhov emphasized the fact that whether or not one becomes an educated person is a matter of attitude more than access to books.

Therefore, culture is defined as the property of internalizing the most positive and socializing elements of the culture in which a person lives, not isolating oneself from others through the elitist barrier of access to luxuries. It is an idea that, today, we could claim more.