“To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don’t be.”

Don’t be humble… you’re not that great.

Anybody who believes in something without reservation believes that this thing is right and should be, has the stamina to meet obstacles and overcome them.

The deserts of the Middle East are in need of water, not bombers.

We don’t want wars even when we win.

From Russia I didn’t bring out a single happy memory, only sad, tragic ones. The nightmare of pogroms, the brutality of Cossacks charging young Socialists, fear, shrieks of terror.

As President Nixon says, presidents can do almost anything, and President Nixon has done many things that nobody would have thought of doing.

Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do.

Show me a sensible person who likes himself or herself! I know myself too well to like what I see. I know but too well that I’m not what I’d like to be.

The modern woman asks herself: Is there something wrong with me if my children don’t fill up my life?

Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.

There can be no doubt that the average man blames much more than he praises. His instinct is to blame. If he is satisfied he says nothing; if he is not, he most illogically kicks up a row.

I’m a slave to this leaf in a diary that lists what I must do, what I must say, every half hour.

A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.

If only political leaders would allow themselves to feel, as well as to think, the world might be a happier place.

It’s no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do?.. Those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.

The only alternative to war is peace and the only road to peace is negotiations.

The struggle between the two worlds [Fascism and Democracy] can permit no compromises.

It speaks to your livelihood and it’s not compromised. It’s blunt. It’s raw, straight off the street – from the beat to the voice to the words.

You know what I think about violence. For me it is profoundly moral -more moral than compromises and transactions.

The struggle between the two worlds [Fascism and Democracy] can permit no compromises. It’s either Us or Them!

One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.

I was brought up to believe that the Christian God wasn’t a scared and compromising public servant, but the creator of the whole merciless truth, and I reckon that training spoiled me – I actually took my teachers seriously!

When the final result is expected to be a compromise, it is often prudent to start from an extreme position.

I am perfectly happy to compromise and work with anybody. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians. I’ll work with Martians. If – and the if is critical – they’re willing to cut spending and reduce the debt.