Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence.

Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.

It was not the man's brain that was speaking; it was his larynx.

Pessimism is reactionary because it makes the very idea of improving the world impossible.

I'm fat, but I'm thin inside... there's a thin man inside every fat man.

The modern writer who has influenced me most is W. Somerset Maugham .