Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than in knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity when it is offered.

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.

A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.

Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.

It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.

Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.

He had become enveloped in the Indian Summer of the Soul.

One has to manage alone as best one can. (Karin Bergman)

In moments of great stress, every life form that exists gives out a tiny subliminal signal.

At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.

Anything outside marriage seems like freedom and excitement.

I can't believe there will ever be a time when the book is truly obsolete. It is the perfect technology and feeds the soul.

I just wish, maybe, that I'd started conducting earlier. I was about 40 when I started. Apart from that I don't really have any regrets. Is that bad?

I didn't think I had anything particular to say, but I thought I might have something to say to children.

I like to move around in the landscape between poetry and prose, between the lyrical and the narrative.

The old days of screenwriting, and myths about screenwriting, are maybe over. It's a literary form, if you can wake up to it.