Poems List

Fame is something that must be won. Honor is something that must not be lost.

The consistent anarchist should be a socialist, but a socialist of a particular sort. He will not only oppose alienated and specialized labor and look forward to the appropriation of capital by the whole body of workers, but he will also insist that this appropriation be direct, not exercised by some elite force acting in the name of the proletariat. Some sort of council communism is the natural form of revolutionary socialism in an industrial society. It reflects the intuitive understanding that democracy is largely a sham when the industrial system is controlled by any form of autocratic elite, whether of owners, managers, and technocrats, a vanguard party, or a State bureaucracy.

How very paltry and limited the normal human intellect is, and how little lucidity there is in the human consciousness, may be judged from the fact that, despite the ephemeral brevity of human life, the uncertainty of our existence and the countless enigmas which press upon us from all sides, everyone does not continually and ceaselessly philosophize, but that only the rarest of exceptions do.

Whatever you fear most has no power - it is your fear that has the power.

We can imagine a society in which no one could survive as a social being because it does not correspond to biologically determined perceptions and human social needs. For historical reasons, existing societies might have such properties, leading to various forms of pathology.

The greatest achievements of the human mind are generally received with distrust.

Never make a defense or an apology until you are accused.

Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame.

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.

Resistance is feasible even for those who are not heroes by nature, and it is an obligation, I believe, for those who fear the consequences and detest the reality of the attempt to impose American hegemony.

‘With this letter, dear Mr Frank, I would like to ask you if it is not a good idea to occasionally focus our attention on brave Peter. How a boy of fifteen held out in the concentration camp, as you yourself told me, how he did his best for other people, and so on. Of course the marvellous, intelligent Anne deserves all the attention, but the boy had such a close bond with her, and he certainly meant a great deal to her – why not some praise for him now and then? This is no more than an idea, but I think all too often of all the heroes who were not lucky enough From the archives of the Anne Frank Houseto have kept diaries.’

I probably carry more scar tissue on my derrire than any other candidate-that's political scar tissue.

Fame, ain't it a bitch

“The Grand Duchess Tatiana was as charming as her sister Olga, but in a different way. She has been described as proud, but I never knew anyone less so. With her, as her mother, shyness and reserve were accounted as pride, but once you knew her and had gained her affection, this reserve disappeared, and the real Tatijana became apparent. She was a poetical creature, as always yearning for the ideal, and dreaming of great friendships which might be hers. The Emperor loved her devotedly, they had much in common, and the sisters used to laugh, and say that, if a favor were required, ‘Tatiana must ask Papa to grant it.’ She was very tall, and excessively thin, with a cameo-like profile, deep blue eyes, and dark chestnut hair… a lovely ‘Rose’ maiden, fragile and pure as a flower.”

The minute one utters a certainty, the opposite comes to mind.

Cameo like profile . . . a lovely rose maiden and as pure as flower

I hate that people think going to the theatre is a special occasion. I wish people would treat it as normally as going to the cinema.

How strange! Am I already dead?”

I've learned that you can't have everything and do everything at the same time.

I always think 12 times before saying anything.

“You would need to have a mind as perverted as theirs and a disordered soul to defeat all of their unbelievable plots. I have decided I am old enough to dare to be myself. I will do the things which I believe to be right and am ready to stand up and defend my actions because they are really my own, and have not been forced upon me”.

We lived in a rented house, which was in a very poor state of repair, but despite many pleas to the landlord we found that we had to like it or lump it.

I knew it was a great film, but I didn't expect it to get the attention it did because none of his other films had and I thought they were just as good. Of course, I didn't know what it was about until I saw it in the cinema because of the way that he works — but I knew it was good. That it reached a wider audience surprised me.

An inventor is simply a fellow who doesn't take his education too seriously.