I came across this quote while looking for inspiration for writing: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” It appeared in a collection of writing quotes, and at first I didn’t understand why. Then I learned it’s a paraphrase of something Anton Chekhov once wrote to his brother, and it’s often used to illustrate “show, don’t tell”—the idea that writers reveal meaning through images and details rather than direct statements.

Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short‑story writer known for his sharp, precise images. His influence reached far beyond literature. In his biography of Chekhov, V.S. Pritchett noted that Lenin once said reading Ward No. 6 had made him a revolutionary. Chekhov’s work also surfaced in Lenin’s political writing. In the pamphlet “Left-Wing” Childishness, he mocked Bukharin as a “man in a muffler,” invoking the timid, narrow‑minded figure from Chekhov’s story The Man in a Case (often translated as The Man in a Muffler), who embodied fear of innovation and initiative. Lenin’s interest in Chekhov wasn’t limited to these references; in a letter to his mother, he even asked whether she had seen Three Sisters performed.

To me, the quote is really about how even the smallest detail — a glint on broken glass — can hold a trace of hope. In its own way, stumbling across that line and discovering its ties to one of my favorite authors and revolutionaries felt like its own small glint.

—T.A.