A people that has experienced all that the Germans have been through, naturally offers fertile soil for the extremists.

Dante can be understood only within the context of Italian thought, and Faust would be unthinkable if divorced from its German background; but both are part of our common cultural heritage.

History uses a unit of measure for time that is different from that of the lifespan of the individual, whereas man is only too ready to measure the evolution of history by his own yardstick.

The economic position is only flourishing on the surface. Germany is in fact dancing on a volcano. If the short-term credits are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse.

In every man the memory of the struggles and the heroes of the past is alive. But these memories are not incompatible with the desire for peace in the future.

To contrast national solidarity and international cooperation as two opposites seems foolish to me.

As a result of the World War, this old Germany collapsed. It collapsed in its constitution, in its social order, in its economic structure. Its thinking and feeling changed.

To walk behind others on a road you are traveling together, to give precedence to others without envy - this is painful for an individual and painful for a nation.

Here we encounter two conflicting concepts with which we must come to grips in our time: the idea of national solidarity and the idea of international cooperation.

Just as a child respects his father even when he perceives his weaknesses and faults, so a German will not despise the old Germany which was once a symbol of greatness to him.

Just as the child is father to the man, so the impressions of one's youth remain the most vivid in manhood.

Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.

Be careful not to blame yourself if someone rejects Christ. If you do, you might be tempted to take credit when someone accepts him.

In my room as a kid... I'd play a fighter and get knocked to the floor and come back to win.

Liberation means no rebirth. Now, does that mean you don't reincarnate? Well, you never did reincarnate.

I have to work really hard, eight shows a week, to get a nice check as an actor. But when I write a play, and it's a - knock wood - hit, the checks come in for many years.

Stay firmly in your path and dare; be wild two hours a day!

The truth is never pure and rarely simple.

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours.

Well, rhythm is 90 percent of the interpretation.

What does Karl Marx put on his pasta? Communist Manipesto!