The writer is the engineer of the human soul.

In the Soviet army it takes more courage to retreat than advance.

If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.

If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a 'peace conference', you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and airplanes.

When you think about it, the end of the world is a little bit like death: We all know it's going to come eventually, and as we get older, we feel we see the signs more and more distinctly.

Not one has shown an iota of fear of death. They want to end this agony.

And what unity is to be had, at a time when orchestras are dying out, and when opera houses are about to close their doors; what's going to come next - when nothing new in music, for the orchestra, is truly lasting: pieces are performed once, and then they're thrown away.

With grief, you have reason to despair; it's a human thing.