And keep as few things as possible, so that you don't have to fear for them. Give them up without a struggle-because otherwise the humiliation will poison your heart. They will take them away from you in a fight, and trying to hold onto your property will only leave you with a bloodied mouth ... But by owning things and trembling about their fate aren't you forfeiting the rare opportunity of observing and understanding?

A great writer is, so to speak, a secret government in his country

It would have been difficult to design a path out of communism worse than the one that has been followed.

... a man can safely sacrifice a great deal as long as he clings to the essential.

A whole week, a single campaign, a month, a week, even a day was far more than enough to cut a company or platoon to ribbons or cripple a man for life: it needed only a quarter of an hour.

Yes, you live with your feet in the mud and there's no time to be thinking about how you got in or how you're going to get out.

We have arrived at an intellectual chaos.