There is an abundance of ancient place names in the Ukraine and Poland, which derive from 'Khazar' or 'Zhid' (Jew).

The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.

History is a priori amoral; it has no conscience.

The cell door slammed behind Rubishov.

Aggressiveness is not the main trouble with the human species, but rather an excess capacity for fanatical devotion.

Nobody before the Pythagorean had thought that mathematical relations held the secret of the universe. Twenty-five centuries later, Europe is still blessed and cursed with their heritage. To non-European civilizations, the idea that numbers are the key to both wisdom and power, seems never to have occurred.

Space-ships and time machines are no escape from the human condition. Let Othello subject Desdemona to a lie-detector test; his jealousy will still blind him to the evidence. Let Oedipus triumph over gravity; he won't triumph over his fate.