There are a few things that’ll move people to pity, a few, but the trouble is, when they’ve been used several times, they no longer work.
There must always be some who are brighter and some who are stupider, the latter make up for it by being better workers.
What rapture, oh, it is to know A good thing when you see it And having seen a good thing, oh, What rapture ’tis to flee it.
We often do not know ourselves the grounds On which we act, though plain to others.
Never believe on faith, see for yourself! What you yourself don’t learn you don’t know.
When the praying does no good, insurance does help.
Even hatred of vileness Distorts a mans features.
There are times when you have to choose between being human and having good taste.
The defeats and victories of the fellows at the top aren’t always defeats and victories for the fellows at the bottom.
If art reflects life, it does so with special mirrors.
All the world says: yes we know what’s written in the books but now let’s see what our eyes tell us.
For time is short and the unknown surrounds us; and it isn’t enough just to live unthinking and happy, calmly bearing oppression and only learning wisdom with age.
A man who doesn’t know the truth is just an idiot, but a man who knows the truth and calls it a lie is a crook.
The river that everything drags is known as violent, but nobody calls violent the margins that arrest him.
THE POLICEMAN: I’m a policeman. I’m paid by those in charge to combat dissatisfaction.
Think with feeling.
One day somebody asked Herr K. if there was a God. Herr K. replied: “I suggest that you ask yourself whether the answer would effect your behavior. If your behavior would remain unchanged, then we can drop the question. If it would change, then I can at least be of assistance to you by telling you that you have already decided: you need a God.
The compassion of the oppressed for the oppressed is indispensable. It is the world’s one hope.
Character is a question of time. It lasts for a certain length of time, just like a glove. There are good ones that last a long time. But they don’t last forever.
How can one remain free of every weakness, above all of the most deadly, of love?