Anton Chekhov —The Duel
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. Among his many works, "The Duel" is a fictional novella that enjoyed great success as was re-issued nine times during the 1890's. The character Von Koren's philosophy was built around Chekhov's conversations with zoologist and writer Vladimir Wagner on "the right of the strong one."
Excerpt:
The deserted seashore, the insatiable heat, and the monotony of the smoky lilac mountains, ever the same and silent, everlastingly solitary, overwhelmed him with depression, and, as it were, made him drowsy and sapped his energy. He was perhaps very clever, talented, remarkably honest; perhaps if the sea and the mountains had not closed him in on all sides, he might have become an excellent Zemstvo leader, a statesman, an orator, a political writer, a saint. Who knows? If so, was it not stupid to argue whether it were honest or dishonest when a gifted and useful man—an artist or musician, for instance—to escape from prison, breaks a wall and deceives his jailers? Anything is honest when a man is in such a position.
Citation: Chekhov, Anton. 1891 The Duel. Trans. by Constance Garnett.
Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13505/13505-h/13505-h.htm#link2H_4_0001
