Today, for a Jew who writes in the German language, it is totally impossible to make a living. In no group do I see as much misery, disappointment, desperation and hopelessness as in Jewish writers who write in German.

One must be convinced to convince, to have enthusiasm to stimulate the others.

Only the misfortune of exile can provide the in-depth understanding and the overview into the realities of the world.

It would be foolhardy to count on the conscience of the world.

Now I am discovering the world once more. England has widened my horizon.

Often the presence of mind and energy of a person remote from the spotlight decide the course of history for centuries to come.

Never can the innate power of a work be hidden or locked away. A work of art can be forgotten by time; it can be forbidden and rejected but the elemental will always prevail over the ephemeral.

Every wave, regardless of how high and forceful it crests, must eventually collapse within itself.

There is no sense to a sacrifice after you come to feel that it is a sacrifice.

Only the person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, rise and fall, only that person has truly experienced life.

Fate is never too generous even to its favorites. Rarely do the gods grant a mortal more than one immortal deed.

The free, independent spirit who commits himself to no dogma and will not decide in favor of any party has no homestead on earth.

When they are preparing for war, those who rule by force speak most copiously about peace until they have completed the mobilization process.

The idea of Jewish unity, of a plan, an organization, unfortunately exists only in the brains of Hitler and Streicher.

In history, the moments during which reason and reconciliation prevail are short and fleeting.

In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.

Today, for a Jew who writes in the German language, it is totally impossible to make a living. In no group do I see as much misery, disappointment, desperation and hopelessness as in Jewish writers who write in German.

No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.

Fear is a distorting mirror in which anything can appear as a caricature of itself stretched to terrible proportions once inflamed the imagination pursues the craziest and most unlikely possibilities. What is most absurd suddenly seems the most probable.

Hairdressers are professional gossips when only the hands are busy the tongue is seldom still.

It is better to be the servant of God than the ruler of men.

It is better to pay tribute of gold to the enemy than tribute of blood in war.

Every wave, regardless of how high and forceful it crests, must eventually collapse within itself.

Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.

I have always used the world of make-believe with a certain desperation.

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.

Men of my age live in a state of continual desperation.

Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.

Lottery tickets are a surtax on desperation.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

People need motivation to do anything. I don't think human beings learn anything without desperation.

Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses.

The abjection of our political situation is the only true challenge today. Only facing up to this situation in all its desperation can help us get out of it.

The tragedy of it is that nobody sees the look of desperation on my face. Thousands and thousands of us, and we're passing one another without a look of recognition.

If I were a Roman Catholic, I should turn a heretic, in sheer desperation, because I would rather go to heaven than go to purgatory.

I sort of got into Westerns... It was a sort of desperation move, really. I had several pictures that didn't go very well, and I just realised that I would have to try something else.

Killing yourself is a major commitment, it takes a kind of courage. Most people just lead lives of cowardly desperation. It's kinda half suicide where you just dull yourself with substances.

Niger is not an isolated island of desperation. It lies within a sea of problems across Africa - particularly the 'forgotten emergencies' in poor countries or regions with little strategic or material appeal.

My hunger and desperation, being an actor, an out of work actor - my memory of that is as fresh as an open wound.

We all need money, but there are degrees of desperation.

I do believe that most men live lives of quiet desperation. For despair, optimism is the only practical solution. Hope is practical. Because eliminate that and it's pretty scary. Hope at least gives you the option of living.

Desperation is like stealing from the Mafia: you stand a good chance of attracting the wrong attention.

In life you need either inspiration or desperation.

I don't think human beings learn anything without desperation. Desperation is a necessary ingredient to learning anything or creating anything. Period. If you ain't desperate at some point, you ain't interesting.

Desperation is a necessary ingredient to learning anything, or creating anything. Period. If you ain't desperate at some point, you ain't interesting.

If we were really tough on crime, we'd try to save our children from the desperation and deprivation that leave them primed for a life of crime.

Wheels of fire, cosmic, rich, full-bodied honest victories over desperation.

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.

I am one of those people who thrive on deadlines, nothing brings on inspiration more readily than desperation.