There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.
In military science there is a principle more important than "Forward": it is that the task should be proportionate to the means.
Satiety depends not at all on how much we eat, but on how we eat. It's the same with happiness, the very same. . . happiness doesn't depend on how many external blessings we have snatched from life. It depends only on our attitude toward them. There's a saying about it in the Taoist ethic: 'Whoever is capable of contentment will always be satisfied.
The price of cowardice will only be evil. We shall reap courage and victory only when we dare to make sacrifices.
The less you speak, the more you will hear.
A work of art contains its verification in itself: artificial, strained concepts do not withstand the test of being turned into images; they fall to pieces, turn out to be sickly and pale, convince no one. Works which draw on truth and present it to us in live and concentrated form grip us, compellingly involve us, and no one ever, not even ages hence, will come forth to refute them.
Man has set for himself the goal of conquering the world but in the processes loses his soul.
What are you? What am I? Those are the questions that constantly persecute and torment me and perhaps also play some part in my art.
I remember very well, when I was at Oxford, an old gentleman said to me, "Young man, ply your book diligently now, and acquire a stock of knowledge; for when years come upon you, you will find that poring upon books will be but an irksome task.
There's nothing worse than a violent beating from an unremarkable person. Physical violence with someone is too much like shagging them. Too much id involved.
As a head-hunter I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing my candidates do well and therefore my clients happy. I want to work with clients more as a partner than simply a head-hunter.