Bertolt Brecht Quotes

Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it. – Bertolt Brecht

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Bertolt Brecht

Man is man’s greatest danger. – Bertolt Brecht

Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life. – Bertolt Brecht

Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good. – Bertolt Brecht

Unhappy is the land that needs a hero. – Bertolt Brecht

What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of a bank? – Bertolt Brecht

Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of representation must change. – Bertolt Brecht

Thinking of art as a means of social education is also an excellent idea. – Bertolt Brecht

A person who is not political is political. A person who is indifferent to politics is supporting the ruling party. – Bertolt Brecht

When the leaders speak of peace, the common folk know that war is coming. – Bertolt Brecht

Grub first, then ethics. – Bertolt Brecht

The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouths they’ve been in. – Bertolt Brecht

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

People, not things, exploit each other. – Bertolt Brecht

Reality is such a low point. – Bertolt Brecht

Don’t be afraid of death so much, but of a poorly lived life. – Bertolt Brecht

One cannot order the time given one, but one can order what one does with it. – Bertolt Brecht

Greed has poisoned men’s souls. – Bertolt Brecht

Generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses. – Bertolt Brecht

Every war is a war for the redivision of the world. – Bertolt Brecht

We are all guilty of the good we did not do. – Bertolt Brecht

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

Only he who learns from the future can profit from it. – Bertolt Brecht

Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it. – Bertolt Brecht

Wrong life cannot be lived rightly. – Bertolt Brecht

Truth is concrete. – Bertolt Brecht

Public opinion, poisoned by the press, is now in great need of support. – Bertolt Brecht

You don’t need criticism to change things. What you need is power. – Bertolt Brecht

What is the crime of robbing a bank compared to the crime of founding one? – Bertolt Brecht

As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields. – Bertolt Brecht

Unhappy the land that needs heroes. – Bertolt Brecht

War is like love; it always finds a way. – Bertolt Brecht

They say the quickest way to get power is to be a philosopher. But the philosophers today are like dead fish in the sea. – Bertolt Brecht

The finest plans have always been spoiled by the littleness of those who should carry them out. Even empires, which depend on the execution of hundreds of thousands of men, show the weakness of human impulse throughout. All human things are in difficulty. – Bertolt Brecht

Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it. – Bertolt Brecht

There’s no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary. – 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

Why be afraid of death? It is a very slight thing to have been alive! – Bertolt Brecht

Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon. – Bertolt Brecht

What nourishes me destroys me. – Bertolt Brecht

Poverty makes you wise, but it’s a curse. – 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 cunning to spread the truth among such persons. – Bertolt Brecht

The great are only great because we are on our knees. Let us rise up. – Bertolt Brecht

One cannot say to the sun, ‘More sun.’ One cannot say to the rain, ‘Less rain.’ To a man in a parade, one cannot say, ‘Less marching.’ – Bertolt Brecht

The finest fortunes are made by doing a thing a second time. – Bertolt Brecht

War is like love; it always finds a way. – Bertolt Brecht

What is the crime of robbing a bank compared to the crime of founding one? – Bertolt Brecht

There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two. – Bertolt Brecht

Don’t be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life. – Bertolt Brecht