... nothing is more human than substituting the quantity of words and actions for their character. But using imprecise words is very similar to using lots of words, for the more imprecise a word is, the greater the area it covers.

Anything that endures over time sacrifices its ability to make an impression.

Life forms a surface that acts as if it could not be otherwise, but under its skin things are pounding and pulsing.

And what would you do, ... if you could rule the world for a day? I suppose I would have no choice but to abolish reality.

[...] a number of flawed individuals can often add up to a brilliant social unit.

Have we not huddled in bunkers, while some premonition of tomorrow hung in the air and a comrade started singing? Oh, it felt so melancholy! And it was kitsch.

The truth is not a crystal that can be slipped into one's pocket, but an endless current into which one falls headlong.