The finest plans are always ruined by the littleness of those who ought to carry them out, for emperor himself can actually be nothing.

Art and science work in quite different ways: agreed. But, bad as it may sound, I have to admit that I cannot get along as an artist without the use of one or two sciences. ... In my view, the great and complicated things that go on in the world cannot be adequately recognized by people who do not use every possible aid to understanding.

The fanatics for progress often have too little appreciation of the existing.

What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of a bank?

For once you must try not to shirk the facts: mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.

The first time it was reported that our friends were being butchered there was a cry of horror. Then a hundred were butchered. But when a thousand were butchered and there was no end to the butchery, a blanket of silence spread. When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out "stop!" When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer.

One can describe the world of today to the people of today only if one describes it as capable of alteration.