So the thing that bothered me most was that the condemned man had to hope the machine would work the first time.

Revolution, in order to be creative, cannot do without either a moral or metaphysical rule to balance the insanity of history.

Since the order of the world is shaped by death, mightn't it be better for God if we refuse to believe in Him, and struggle with all our might against death without raising our eyes towards the heaven where He sits in silence?

I'd have given ten conversations with Einstein for a first meeting with a pretty chorus girl.

I am not made for politics because I am incapable of wanting or accepting the death of the adversary.

There are means that cannot be excused. And I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice. I don't want just any greatness for it, particularly a greatness born of blood and falsehood. I want to keep it alive by keeping justice alive.

And so I learned that familiar paths traced in the dusk of summer evenings may lead as well to prison as to innocent untroubled sleep.