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The defeats and victories of the fellows at the top aren’t always defeats and victories for the fellows at the bottom.

Bertolt Brecht

Terrible is the temptation to be good.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Be Good Temptation Terrible
Let nothing be called natural In an age of bloody confusion, Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanized humanity, lest all things Be held unalterable!
BERTOLT BRECHT

Confusion Humanity Nature
In the contradiction lies the hope.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Contradiction Hope Lying
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.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Declaring Running War
Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Condition Example Made Realist
Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Lying Running Writing
General, man is very useful. He can fly and he can kill. But he has one defect: He can think.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Defect Men Thinking
There are times when you have to choose between being human and having good taste.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Being Good Human Nature Taste
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.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Bird Perspective Squirrels
Science knows only one commandment – contribute to science.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Account Knows Science
The newspaper The dog Dialectics Showering, swimming Old music Comfortable shoes Comprehension New music Writing, planting Traveling Singing Being friendly
BERTOLT BRECHT

Comfortable Dog Newspaper Planting Shoe Singing
What a miserable thing life is: you’re in clover; only the clover isn’t good enough.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Gratitude Life Sadness
There are some with brains and some without. It makes for a better division of labour.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Brain Division Labor
You can’t write poems about trees when the woods are full of policemen.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Tree Wood Writing
Fearful is the seductive power of goodness.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Fearful Goodness Seductive
The right to happiness is fundamental; men live so little time and die alone.
BERTOLT BRECHT

Alone Happiness Joy Men

The defeats and victories of the fellows at the top aren’t always defeats and victories for the fellows at the bottom.

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The defeats and victories of the fellows at the top aren’t always defeats and victories for the fellows at the bottom.

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Popular Authors

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