It is within the power of writers and artists to do much more: to defeat the lie!

In every life there is one particular event that is decisive for the entire person-for his fate, his convictions, his passions.

The solemn pledge to abstain from telling the truth was called socialist realism.

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained.

You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again.

Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the 20th century, and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press.

... the inexorable lesson of centuries: suffering must be borne; there is no way out.