Something ignoble, loathsome, undignified attends all associations between people and has been transferred to all objects, dwelling, tools, even the landscape itself.
Bertolt BrechtUnhappiness doesn't grow on the chest like leprosy. Poverty won't fall off the roof like a loose tile, no; poverty and unhappiness are man's doing.
Bertolt BrechtThe finest plans have always been spoiled by the littleness of them that should carry them out. Even emperors can't do it all by themselves.
Bertolt BrechtSociety cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.
Bertolt BrechtThe finest plans are always ruined by the littleness of those who ought to carry them out, for emperor himself can actually be nothing.
Bertolt BrechtArt 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.
Bertolt BrechtLove is also like a coconut which is good while it is fresh, but you have to spit it out when the juice is gone, what's left tastes bitter.
Bertolt BrechtThose who take the most from the table, teach contentment. Those for whom the taxes are destined, demand sacrifice. Those who eat their fill, speak to the hungry, of wonderful times to come. Those who lead the country into the abyss, call ruling difficult, for ordinary folk.
Bertolt BrechtThe aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error.
Bertolt BrechtPeople are too durable, that's their main trouble. They can do too much to themselves, they last too long.
Bertolt BrechtGo make yourself a plan And be a shining light. Then make yourself a second plan, For neither will come right.
Bertolt BrechtLiterary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of.
Bertolt BrechtPleasures First look from morning's window The rediscovered book Fascinated faces Snow, the change of the seasons The newspaper The dog Dialectics Showering, swimming Old music Comfortable shoes Comprehension New music Writing, planting Traveling Singing Being friendly
Bertolt BrechtThe alienation effect in German epic theater is achieved not only through the actors, but also through music (chorus and song) andsets (transparencies, film strips, etc.). Its main purpose is to place the staged events in their historical context.
Bertolt BrechtNever believe on faith, see for yourself! What you yourself don't learn you don't know.
Bertolt BrechtThere are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones.
Bertolt BrechtArt and science coincide insofar as both aim to improve the lives of men and women. The latter normally concerns itself with profit, the former with pleasure. In the coming age, art will fashion our entertainment out of new means of productivity in ways that will simultaneously enhance our profit and maximize our pleasure.
Bertolt BrechtWho does Not Know the Truth, is simply a Fool... Yet who Knows the Truth and Calls it a Lie, is a Criminal.
Bertolt BrechtA man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls.
Bertolt BrechtThe human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars.
Bertolt Brecht