Bertolt Brecht
» Acting and Actors » “A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls.”
» Bankers and Banking » “It is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk.”
» Charity » “A man who sees another man on the street corner with only a stump for an arm will be so shocked the first time he’ll give him sixpence. But the second time it’ll only be a three penny bit. And if he sees him a third time, he’ll have him cold-bloodedly handed over to the police.”
» Dress » “From the cradle to the coffin underwear comes first.”
» Endurance » “People are too durable, that’s their main trouble. They can do too much to themselves, they last too long.”
» Faces » “People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart.”
» Goodness » “No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand.”
» Heroes and Heroism » “Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.”
» Insurance » “You don’t need to pray to God any more when there are storms in the sky, but you do have to be insured.”
» Invention and Inventor » “Today every invention is received with a cry of triumph which soon turns into a cry of fear.”
» Law and Lawyers » “The law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don’t understand it, or are prevented by naked misery from obeying it.”
» Life and Living » “Don’t be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life.”
» Media » “Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.”
» Mystery » “What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?”
» Peace » “Don’t tell me peace has broken out.”
» Poverty and The Poor » ” Poverty makes you sad as well as wise.”
» Reality » “Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of.”
» Responsibility » “No one will improve your lot if you do not yourself.”
» Right and Rightness » “Right is its own defense.”
» Science and Scientists » “Science knows only one commandment — contribute to science.”
» Teachers and Teaching » “The world of knowledge takes a crazy turn when teachers themselves are taught to learn.”
» Theater » “We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself.”
» War » “War is like love, it always finds a way.”
» Wisdom » “Mixing one’s wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.”
