“In the contradiction lies the hope.”

The finest plans are always ruined by the littleness of those who ought to carry them out, for emperor himself can actually be nothing.

There are some with brains and some without. It makes for a better division of labour.

Their peace and their war Are like wind and storm. War grows from their peace.

I’m in good form, taking no interest in things, neglecting clothes, meals, company, and feeling calm and stable as I write.

The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What’s left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars.

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.

From the cradle to the coffin underwear comes first.

A man who sees another man on the street corner with only a stump for an arm will be so shocked the first time he’ll give him sixpence. But the second time it’ll only be a three penny bit. And if he sees him a third time, he’ll have him cold-bloodedly handed over to the police.

To those who does not know the world is on fire, I have nothing to say.

General, your bomber is powerful. It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant. But it has one defect: It needs a mechanic. General, man is very useful. He can fly and he can kill. But he has one defect: He can think.

It’s never too late for those whose time has come.

I Who live in Los Angeles and not in London Find, on thinking about Hell, that it must be Still more like Los Angeles.

No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand.

Art is not a mirror. Art is a hammer.

If art reflects life, it does so with special mirrors.

Art and science coincide insofar as both aim to improve the lives of men and women.

A photograph is a meeting place where the interests of the photographer, the photographed, the viewer and those who are using the photograph are often contradictory.

The contradiction in perspective was that it structured all images of reality to address a single spectator who, unlike God, could only be in one place at a time.

Those laws, being forged for universal application, are in perpetual conflict with personal interest, just as personal interest is always in contradiction with the general interest.

The theory of the permanent revolution, in contradiction to the theory of socialism in one country, was recognized by the entire Bolshevik party during the period from 1917 to 1923.

I’m a walking contradiction.

The cardinal responsibility of leadership is to identify the dominant contradiction at each point of the historical process and to work out a central line to resolve it.

I write to keep from going mad from the contradictions I find among mankind – and to work some of those contradictions out for myself.

All beliefs not in such contradiction may be considered as faith. Whether faith in a particular belief is beneficial or not is another matter.