Bertolt Brecht Quotes & Sayings

Suppose they gave a war, and nobody came? Why then, the war would come to you! — Bertolt Brecht

What's breaking into a bank compared with founding a bank? — Bertolt Brecht

First the grub, then the morals. — Bertolt Brecht

On thinking about Hell, I gather
My brother Shelley found it was a place
Much like the city of London. I
Who live in Los Angeles and not in London
Find, on thinking about Hell, that it must be
Still more like Los Angeles. — Bertolt Brecht

It's never too late for those whose time has come. — Bertolt Brecht

The headlong stream is termed violent
But the river bed hemming it in
Is termed violent by no one. — Bertolt Brecht

As regards obstacles, the shortest distance between two points can be a curve. — Bertolt Brecht

It is simplicity that is difficult to make. — Bertolt Brecht

If you fight you might lose, if you don't you have already lost. — Bertolt Brecht

In the dark times will there be singing?
Yes. There will be singing about the dark times. — Bertolt Brecht

Well, where is she ? Where the colossal / Mountains of smoke stand. / That thing there amongst the fires / Is her. — Bertolt Brecht

For what's the use of talking with a man who has a disease and thinks about the stars? — Bertolt Brecht

Today every invention is received with a cry of triumph which soon turns into a cry of fear. — Bertolt Brecht

The man who laughs has simply not yet had the terrible news. — Bertolt Brecht

A theater without beer is just a museum — Bertolt Brecht

Come in, dear wind, and be our guest You too have neither home nor rest. — Bertolt Brecht

The wickedness of the world is so great, you have to keep running so your legs won't be stolen from under you! — Bertolt Brecht

Love is the desire to give, not to receive, something. Love is the art of producing something with the other's talents. — Bertolt Brecht

When the wound/ No longer hurts/ The scar does. — Bertolt Brecht

A person is really dead only when nobody thinks of him anymore. — Bertolt Brecht

First the pork chops, then morality — Bertolt Brecht

Who built the seven gates of Thebes? In the books are listed the names of kings. Did the kings heave up the building blocks? — Bertolt Brecht

He who speaks of enemies , himself is the enemy. — Bertolt Brecht

As soon as something seems the most obvious thing in the world,it means that we have abandoned all attempts to understanding it. — Bertolt Brecht

MECH to Baal: Would you like some wine, Mr Baal? All take seats, Baal in the place of honour. Do you like crab? That's a dead eel. PILLER to Mech: I'm very glad that the immortal poems of Mr Baal, which I had the honour of reading to you, have earned your approval. To Baal: You must publish your poetry. Mr Mech pays like a real patron of the arts. You'll be able to leave your attic. MECH: I buy cinnamon wood. Whole forests of cinnamon float down the rivers of Brazil for my benefit. But I'll also publish your poetry. EMILIE: You live in an attic? BAAL eating and drinking: 64 Klauckestrasse. MECH: I'm really too fat for poetry. But you've got the same-shaped head as a man in the Malayan Archipelago, who used to have himself driven to work with a whip. If he wasn't grinding — Bertolt Brecht

To live means to finesse the processes to which one is subjugated. — Bertolt Brecht

Sin is what is new, strong, surprising, strange. The theatre must take an interest in sin if the young are to be able to go there. — Bertolt Brecht

The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn't hear, doesn't speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn't know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn't know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies. — Bertolt Brecht

Those who are weak don't fight.
Those who are stronger might fight
for an hour.
Those who are stronger still might fight
for many years.
The strongest fight
their whole life.
They are the indispensable ones. — Bertolt Brecht

Temptation to behave is terrible. — Bertolt Brecht

Art and science coincide insofar as both aim to improve the lives of men and women. The latter normally concerns itself with profit, the former with pleasure. In the coming age, art will fashion our entertainment out of new means of productivity in ways that will simultaneously enhance our profit and maximize our pleasure. — Bertolt Brecht

It is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk. — Bertolt Brecht

Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably. — Bertolt Brecht

Unhappiness doesn't grow on the chest like leprosy. Poverty won't fall off the roof like a loose tile, no; poverty and unhappiness are man's doing. — Bertolt Brecht

The fate of man is man. — Bertolt Brecht

Here today we huddle tight As the darkest heathens might The snow falls chilly on our skin The snow is forcing its way in. Hush, snow, come in with us to dwell: We were thrown out by Heaven as well. — Bertolt Brecht

The Solution
After the uprising of the 17th of June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another? — Bertolt Brecht

Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life. — Bertolt Brecht

Even hatred of vileness Distorts a mans features. — Bertolt Brecht

The more there are suffering, then, the more natural their sufferings appear. Who wants to prevent the fishes in the sea from getting wet?
And the suffering themselves share this callousness towards themselves and are lacking in kindness towards themselves. It is terrible that human beings so easily put up with existing conditions, not only with the sufferings of strangers but also with their own.
All those who have thought about the bad state of things refuse to appeal to the compassion of one group of people for another. But the compassion of the oppressed for the oppressed is indispensable. It is the world's one hope. — Bertolt Brecht

You can make a fresh start with your final breath. — Bertolt Brecht

The rope has been torn; a knot
Can tie it again, but
It's been torn.
Perhaps we'll meet again, but
You won't find me
In the place where we parted ways. — Bertolt Brecht

One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life. — Bertolt Brecht

He who is still laughing is he who hasn't heard the terrible news. — Bertolt Brecht

Bank robbery is an initiative of amateurs. True professionals establish a bank. — Bertolt Brecht

One must live well to know what living is. — Bertolt Brecht

If you don't have fun, you don't have a show. — Bertolt Brecht

I was called up in the war and sent to a hospital. I dressed wounds, applied iodine, gave enemas, did blood transfusions. If the doctor ordered: "Brecht, amputate a leg!", I would reply, "Certainly, Your Excellency!", and cut off the leg. If I was told, "Perform a trepanning!" I opened the man's skull and messed about with his brains. I saw how they patched fellows up, so as to cart them back to the Front as quickly as they could. — Bertolt Brecht

For the wickedness of the world is so great you have to run your legs off in order to avoid having them stolen from under you. — Bertolt Brecht

In the contradiction lies the hope. — Bertolt Brecht

We're not responsible, he thought. This planet is a temporary affair. It's whizzing with all kinds of other ones, a whole range of planetary stuff, toward a star in the Milky Way. On that kind of a planet we're not responsible, he thought. — Bertolt Brecht

Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. — Bertolt Brecht

All the world says: yes we know what's written in the books but now let's see what our eyes tell us. — Bertolt Brecht

A Man lives off his head.
His head won't see him through.
Inspect your own
What lives on that?
At most, a louse or two ... — Bertolt Brecht

And I did work out something: that the rich of the earth indeed create misery, but they cannot bear to see it. They are weaklings and fools just like you. As long as they have enough to eat and can grease their floors with butter so that even the crumbs that fall from your table grow fat, they can't look with indifference on a man collapsing from hunger - although, of course, it must be in front of their house that he collapses. — Bertolt Brecht

When the praying does no good, insurance does help. — Bertolt Brecht

Righteous people have no sense of humor. — Bertolt Brecht

Art is not a mirror. Art is a hammer. — Bertolt Brecht

The world of knowledge takes a crazy turn when teachers themselves are taught to learn. — Bertolt Brecht

No one will improve your lot if you do not yourself. — Bertolt Brecht

The river that everything drags is known as violent, but nobody calls violent the margins that arrest him. — Bertolt Brecht

You who will emerge from the flood
In which we have gone under
Remember
When you speak of our failings
The dark time too
Which you have escaped — Bertolt Brecht

General, man is very useful. He can fly and he can kill. But he has one defect: He can think. — Bertolt Brecht

Spring is noticed, if at all By people sitting in railway trains. — Bertolt Brecht

What they could do with 'round here is a good war. What else can you expect with peace running wild all over the place? You know what the trouble with peace is? No organization. — Bertolt Brecht

Don't tell me peace has broken out. — Bertolt Brecht

Love is also like a coconut which is good while it is fresh, but you have to spit it out when the juice is gone, what's left tastes bitter. — Bertolt Brecht

He says he'd like to kiss the ground you walk on-reminds me, did you wash them yesterday?- and after that you're his skivvy. — Bertolt Brecht

But something's missing ( Aber etwas fehlt ). — Bertolt Brecht

Right is its own defense. — Bertolt Brecht

When you name yourself, you always name another. — Bertolt Brecht

The more innocent they are, the more they deserve to be shot. — Bertolt Brecht

All the gang of those who rule us Hope our quarrels never stop Helping them to split and fool us So they can remain on top. — Bertolt Brecht

Grub first, then ethics. — Bertolt Brecht

He who laughs last has not yet heard the bad news. — Bertolt Brecht

That cloud, however, blossomed just for minutes
And when I gazed up, faded in the wind. — Bertolt Brecht

Young Alexander conquered India.
He alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls. Was there not even a cook in his army?
Philip of Spain wept as his fleet was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears?
Frederick the Great triumphed in the Seven Years War. Who
Triumphed with him? — Bertolt Brecht

It is many years ago and at times I know nothing about her anymore who was once all things to me but all things pass. (The Eleventh Psalm) — Bertolt Brecht

The law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don't understand it, or are prevented by naked misery from obeying it. — Bertolt Brecht

One cannot write poems about trees when the forest is full of police. — Bertolt Brecht

Great sport begins at a point where it has ceased to be healthy. — Bertolt Brecht

Every time you name yourself, you name someone else. — Bertolt Brecht

The defeats and victories of the fellows at the top aren't always defeats and victories for the fellows at the bottom. — Bertolt Brecht

What kind of times are these, when
To talk about trees is almost a crime
Because it implies silence about so many horrors? — Bertolt Brecht

The righteous one has no sense of humor. — Bertolt Brecht

I don't trust him. We're friends. — Bertolt Brecht

Firebugs dragging their gasoline bottles Are approaching the Academy of Arts, with a grin. And so, instead of embracing them, Let us demand the freedom of the elbow To knock the bottles out of their filthy hands. Even the most blockheaded bureaucrat, Provided he loves peace, Is a greater lover of the arts Than any so-called art-lover Who loves the arts of war. — Bertolt Brecht

Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties. He must have the courage to write the truth when truth is everywhere opposed; the keenness to recognize it, although it is everywhere concealed; the skill to manipulate it as a weapon; the judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective; and the running to spread the truth among such persons. — Bertolt Brecht

The fanatics for progress often have too little appreciation of the existing. — Bertolt Brecht

Carpenter: "Call Shen Te, someone! She's good!"
Shui Ta: "Certainly. She's ruined. — Bertolt Brecht

Oh why do we not say the important things, it would be so easy, and we are damned because we do not. — Bertolt Brecht

Proof seduces them. One of the greatest pleasures of the human race is thinking. — Bertolt Brecht

Terrible is the temptation to be good. — Bertolt Brecht

Never believe on faith, see for yourself! What you yourself don't learn you don't know. — Bertolt Brecht

Recently my fingers have developed a prejudice against comparatives. They all follow this pattern: a squirrel is smaller than a tree; a bird is more musical than a tree. Each of us is the strongest one in his or her own skin. Characteristics should take off their hats to one another, instead of spitting in each other's faces. — Bertolt Brecht

NEPHEW: One cannot be arraigned for declaring a war, which every ruler has to do once in a while, but only for running a war badly. — Bertolt Brecht

What keeps a man alive?
He feeds on others. — Bertolt Brecht

Knowledge is just a commodity. It is acquired in order to be resold. All those who have grown out of going to school have to do their learning virtually in secret, for anyone who admits the he has still something to learn devalues himself as a man whose knowledge is inadequate. — Bertolt Brecht

Those who have had no share in the good fortunes of the mighty Often have a share in their misfortunes. — Bertolt Brecht

It's all right to hesitate if you then go ahead. — Bertolt Brecht