General, man is very useful. He can fly and he can kill. But he has one defect: He can think.
BERTOLT BRECHTThe shrill voices of those who give orders Are full of fear like the squeakings of Piglets awaiting the butcher’s knife, as their fat arses Sweat with anxiety in their office chairs…. Fear rules not only those who are ruled, but The rulers too.
More Bertolt Brecht Quotes
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There are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones.
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The righteous one has no sense of humor.
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Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.
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When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out “stop!” When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer.
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Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of representation must change.
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Would it not be simpler If the Government dissolved the people and elected another?
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He who is still laughing is he who hasn’t heard the terrible news.
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One must live well to know what living is.
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You don’t need to pray to God any more when there are storms in the sky, but you do have to be insured.
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Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties.
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We often do not know ourselves the grounds On which we act, though plain to others.
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It’s all right to hesitate if you then go ahead.
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One can describe the world of today to the people of today only if one describes it as capable of alteration.
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If art reflects life, it does so with special mirrors.
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The alienation effect in German epic theater is achieved not only through the actors, but also through music (chorus and song) andsets (transparencies, film strips, etc.). Its main purpose is to place the staged events in their historical context.
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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.
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Don’t accept the habitual as a natural thing. In times of disorder, of organized confusion, of de-humanized humanity, nothing should seem natural. Nothing should seem impossible to change.
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Oh why do we not say the important things, it would be so easy, and we are damned because we do not.
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Here today we huddle tight As the darkest heathens might The snow falls chilly on our skin The snow is forcing its way in. Hush, snow, come in with us to dwell: We were thrown out by Heaven as well.
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Things take indeed a wondrous turn When learned men do stoop to learn.
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Everyone needs help from everyone.
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If you wan to steal money, don’t rob a bank – open one.
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Those who take the most from the table, teach contentment. Those for whom the taxes are destined, demand sacrifice. Those who eat their fill, speak to the hungry, of wonderful times to come. Those who lead the country into the abyss, call ruling difficult, for ordinary folk.
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The mill wheel turns, it turns forever, though what is uppermost remains not so.
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Each of us is the strongest one in his or her own skin. Characteristics should take off their hats to one another, instead of spitting in each other’s faces.
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War is like love, it always finds a way.
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