To A. N. Pleshtcheyev (September 30, 1889)


I am afraid of those who look for a tendency between the lines, and who are determined to regard me either as a liberal or as a conservative. I am not a liberal, not a conservative, not a believer in gradual progress, not a monk, not an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and nothing more, and I regret that God has not given me the power to be one…. I see them in science, in literature, in the younger generation.... That is why I have no preference either for the police, or for butchers, or for scientists, or for writers, or for the younger generation. I regard trade-marks and labels as a superstition. My holy of holies is the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom--freedom from violence and lying, whatever forms they may take. This is the programme I would follow if I were a great artist.