The best servants of the people, like the best valets, must whisper unpleasant truths in the master's ear. It is the court fool, not the foolish courtier, whom the king can least afford to lose.

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

It is easier to develop great power than it is to know how to use it wisely.

You cannot endow even the best machine with initiative; the jolliest steamroller will not plant flowers.

A really good diplomat does not go in for victories, even when he wins them.

Men who are orthodox when they are young are in danger of being middle-aged all their lives.

The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look clearly into a future when there will not be many idols left to smash.