In history, characters and events occur twice, first as tragedy then as farce.

The man who opts for revenge should dig two graves.

Thetorment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause,is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and ‘mangledmind’ leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.

The Older I get, the more I judge people by their character and not by their ideas.

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. Ilove it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords andharmonies.

Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power.

The exercise of power is determined by thousands ofinteractions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, allthe more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyonehas a small part of himself in both.

Aperson whose heart is not content is like a snake which tries to swallow anelephant.

Happiness is the wondrous commodity, the more your give; the more you have.

If pain could have cured us, we should have long ago been saved.

Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerfuland the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

Do not despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair.