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Oh! Moon of Alabama We now must say good-bye We’ve lost our good old mama And must have whiskey Oh, you know why!

Bertolt Brecht

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.
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Bother Carries Defect Faster General Man Storm
All the gang of those who rule us Hope our quarrels never stop Helping them to split and fool us So they can remain on top.
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Fool Government Splits
Writers can’t write as fast as governments make wars; because to write demands thinking.
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Thinking War Writing
Recently my fingers have developed a prejudice against comparatives. They all follow this pattern: a squirrel is smaller than a tree; a bird is more musical than a tree.
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Bird Perspective Squirrels
Schoenberg is too melodious for me, too sweet.
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Musical Schoenberg Sweet
People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart.
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Faces Fall People
He who is still laughing is he who hasn’t heard the terrible news.
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Laughing News Terrible
Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.
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Mistake Moving Wisdom
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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Contentment Country Sacrifice
Suppose they gave a war, and nobody came? Why then, the war would come to you!
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Politics Suppose War
We often do not know ourselves the grounds On which we act, though plain to others.
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Ground Knows Others Ourselves
Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.
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Art Mirror Reality
Unfortunate the country that needs heroes!
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Country Hero Needs
Go make yourself a plan And be a shining light. Then make yourself a second plan, For neither will come right.
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Light Planning Shining
There must always be some who are brighter and some who are stupider, the latter make up for it by being better workers.
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Latter Stupidity Workers
Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.
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Happiness Hero Land
Who has good luck is good, Who has bad luck is bad.
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Bad Good Luck
You can’t write poems about trees when the woods are full of policemen.
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Tree Wood Writing
For art to be ‘unpolitical’ means only to ally itself with the ‘ruling’ group.
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Allies Art Mean
Mixing one’s wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.
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Mistake Wine Wisdom
Their peace and their war Are like wind and storm. War grows from their peace.
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Peace Storm War Wind
The righteous one has no sense of humor.
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Humor One Righteous Sense
Art is not a mirror. Art is a hammer.
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Art Hammers Mirrors
For once you must try not to shirk the facts: mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.
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Alive Sex Trying
If art reflects life, it does so with special mirrors.
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Art Mirrors Special
But something’s missing.
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Lot Missing Something
Come in, dear wind, and be our guest You too have neither home nor rest.
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Guest Home Wind

Oh! Moon of Alabama We now must say good-bye We’ve lost our good old mama And must have whiskey Oh, you know why!

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Oh! Moon of Alabama We now must say good-bye We’ve lost our good old mama And must have whiskey Oh, you know why!

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Popular Authors

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