Bertelsmann Stiftung Quotes & Sayings

To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies - all this is indispensably necessary. Even — George Orwell

It is a commonplace that every age, or almost every age, thinks that its own time is one of special difficulty. The barbarians seem always to be at the gate. Alas, in our present day this is rather too literally so. But what many fail to realise is that the barbarians are a more various and numerous group than just those unspeakable villains who behead hostages in the desert. Barbarians might also wear ties and travel business class, they might occupy seats of power in government. They might be us, ourselves, when we give up certain civil liberties and betray our own values in the spurious belief that this will protect us from terrorism, organised crime, unwelcome immigration. Forms of dismantling civilisation might differ, but the result is the same. — A.C. Grayling

You can stick a fork in Barack Obama. Politically, he's done. The main way we can screw this up is if we choose the wrong Republican. — Tim Pawlenty

I have a big barn that I converted to my music studio, so I go there early in the morning and the first thing I do is rowing. And that's when I listen to a lot of music. — Tod Machover

I spent most of my time playing pool instead of studying. — James Garner

The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. ... The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader. — Derek Sivers

I noticed there was garlic above the doorframe. Edwart held a stake in one hand and a 'Team Jacob' shirt in the other. — The Harvard Lampoon

Could there be another place for coldhearted cats who had been ready to use the warrior code for their own dark ambitions? — Erin Hunter

When you start off by telling those who disagree with you that they are not merely in error but in sin, how much of a dialogue do you expect? — Thomas Sowell