If there were no executioners, there would be no executions.

The foundation stones of a great building are destined to groan and be pressed upon; it is not for them to crown the edifice.

Nothing is more boring than a man with a career.

Religion always remains higher than everyday life. In order to make the elevation towards religion easier for people, religion must be able to alter its forms in relation to the consciousness of modern man.

With such global events looming over us like mountains, nay, like entire mountain ranges, it may seem incongruous and inappropriate to recall that the primary key to our being or non-being resides in each individual human heart, in the heart’s preference for specific good or evil. Yet this remains true even today, and it is, in fact, the most reliable key we have. The social theories that promised so much have demonstrated their bankruptcy, leaving us at a dead end.

Art thaws even the frozen, darkened soul, opening it to lofty spiritual experience.

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