The real test of a man is not when he plays the role that he wants for himself but when he plays the role destiny has for him.

There is only one thing I will not concede: that it might be meaningless to strive in a good cause.

Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.

The kind of hope that I often think about…I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us, or we don’t. It is a dimension of the soul It’s not essentially dependent upon some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance.

There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them.

True enough, the country is calm. Calm as a morgue or a grave, would you not say?