Friedrich Durrenmatt Quotes - Page 3

To make the essence of man visible in the exposure is the highest art of photography.

There are thoughts we must not think

Revolutions demand enormous sacrifices and, at the same time, create a new need to change the world again.

For people who have no critical acumen, a state is a mythical entity, for those who think critically it is a rational fiction, created by man in order to facilitate human coexistence.

It is easy to kill when you don't see your victim

Human life is beyond comprehension.

The planet on which we live is poorly organized, many areas are overpopulated, others are reserved for a few, technology's potential is only in part realized, and most people are starving.

In the United States the whites speak well of the Blacks but think bad about them, whereas the Blacks talk bad and think bad aboutthe whites. Whites fear Blacks, because they have a bad conscience, and Blacks hate whites because they need not have a bad conscience.

A major power can afford a military debacle only when it looks like a political victory.

Only the freedom of mind can prevent the state from becoming totalitarian and from issuing totalitarian demands.

When death has you by the throat, you don't mince words.

A world is in flames, and you are cracking silly jokes.

Everything that is necessary is also easy. You just have to accept it. And the most necessary, the most natural matter on this planet is death.

Truth is always a delusion.

The freedom of each individual can only be the freedom of all.

Politics at all times lead to bloody wars, and not only politics, but also religions as well as social and economic systems of alltimes are spattered with blood. Invariably the big ones devoured the little ones, and the little ones the tiny ones.

There is also a reasonable tolerance: reason tolerates the reasonable. It is, however, almost tautological to call this 'tolerance' any longer, as it becomes a matter of course.

We can't afford the wrath of Heaven. We survived a deluge by the skin of our teeth, but an economic crisis would be disastrous.

As the Americans slaughter millions of turkeys every year for the celebration of their deliverance, the Indians, who should be celebrated as saviors, have long been slaughtered. There was even a time when a white man was paid a very decent price for every Indian scalp he could produce.

Humans need justice in the here and now and grace in the thereafter. Justice in the here and now is possible only without freedom,and grace in the thereafter only through the freedom of God.

The archetype of all humans, their ideal image, is the computer, once it has liberated itself from its creator, man. The computeris the essence of the human being. In the computer, man reaches his completion.

This inhuman world has to become more humane. But how?

Then the American flag was saluted. In general, in the United States people always salute the American flag.

A story has been thought to its conclusion when it has taken its worst possible turn.

Religion and political expediency go beautifully hand in hand