“Only the Catholic Church protested against the Hitlerian onslaught on liberty. Up till then I had not been interested in the Church, but today I feel a great admiration for the Church, which alone has had the courage to struggle for spiritual truth and moral liberty”

“For rebelling against every form of authority fate has punished me by making me an authority.”

“Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value, elly judgments of all kinds remain necessary.”

“The tendencies we have mentioned are something new for America. They arose when, under the influence of the two World Wars and the consequent concentration of all forces on a military goal, a predominantly military mentality developed, which with the almost sudden victory became even more accentuated. The characteristic feature of this mentality is that people place the importance of what Bertrand Russell so tellingly terms “naked power” far above all other factors which affect the relations between peoples. The Germans, misled by Bismarck’s successes in particular, underwent just such a transformation of their mentality—in consequence of which they were entirely ruined in less than a hundred years. I must frankly confess that the foreign policy of the United States since the termination of hostilities has reminded me, sometimes irresistibly, of the attitude of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II, and I know that, independent of me, this analogy has most painfully occurred to others as well. It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc.) are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thoughts—in short, the psychological factors—are considered as unimportant and secondary. Herein lies a certain resemblance to Marxism, at least insofar as its theoretical side alone is kept in view. The individual is degraded to a mere instrument; he becomes “human materiel.” The normal ends of human aspiration vanish with such a viewpoint. Instead, the military mentality raises “naked power” as a goal in itself—one of the strangest illusions to which men can succumb.”

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

“My sense of god is my sense of wonder about the universe.”

“Dear Habicht, / Such a solemn air of silence has descended between us that I almost feel as if I am committing a sacrilege when I break it now with some inconsequential babble... / What are you up to, you frozen whale, you smoked, dried, canned piece of soul...?”

“Any society which does not insist upon respect for all life must necessarily decay.”

“Look to the stars and from them learn.”

“Tình cảnh của những đứa con trái đất chúng ta mới kỳ lạ làm sao! Mỗi chúng ta đến đây như một chuyến viếng thăm ngắn ngủi. Ta không biết để làm gì, nhưng đôi khi ta tin rằng ta cảm nhận được điều đó. Song, nhìn từ cuộc sống thường nhật mà không đi sâu hơn, ta biết rằng: ta đến đây vì người khác - trước hết vì những người mà hạnh phúc của riêng ta phụ thuộc hoàn toàn vào nụ cười và sự yên ấm của họ, kế đến là vì bao người không quen mà số phận của họ nối với ta bằng sợi dây của lòng cảm thông.”

“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.”

“The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle.”

“Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.”

“Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order —in short, of government.”

“Човек започва да живее тогава, когато може да живее извън себе си.”