Poets are the only people to whom love is not only a crucial, but an indispensable experience, which entitles them to mistake it for a universal one.

It is the nature of beginning that something new is started which cannot be expected from whatever may have happened before. This character of startling unexpectedness is inherent in all beginnings.

We all carry fault within.

Politically, the weakness of the argument has always been that those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil.

The presence of others who see what we see and hear what we hear assures us of the reality of the world and ourselves.

By its very nature the beautiful is isolated from everything else. From beauty no road leads to reality.

Politically speaking, tribal nationalism [patriotism] always insists that its own people are surrounded by 'a world of enemies' - 'one against all' - and that a fundamental difference exists between this people and all others. It claims its people to be unique, individual, incompatible with all others, and denies theoretically the very possibility of a common mankind long before it is used to destroy the humanity of man.