“What kind of times are they, when A talk about trees is almost a crime Because it implies silence about so many horrors?”

Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life.

People cannot remain good unless good is expected of them.

In the contradiction lies the hope.

One cannot be arraigned for declaring a war, which every ruler has to do once in a while, but only for running a war badly.

The worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He hears nothing, sees nothing, takes no part in political life. He doesn’t seem to know that the cost of living, the price of beans, of flour, of rent, of medicines all depend on political decisions.

What’s a joy to the one is a nightmare to the other.

Go make yourself a plan And be a shining light. Then make yourself a second plan, For neither will come right.

Those who have had no share in the good fortunes of the mighty Often have a share in their misfortunes.

The storm that bends the birch trees Is held to be violent But how about the storm That bends the backs of the roadworkers?

Grub first, then ethics.

We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself.

Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon.

Everyone needs help from everyone.

Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.

Come in, dear wind, and be our guest You too have neither home nor rest.

Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods.