110+ Bertolt Brecht Quotes On War, Politics And Fascism

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. He is best known for his plays, which often feature a form of epic theatre that emphasizes the audience's role in society. He is also known for his Marxist-oriented social and political commentary, which often criticize the capitalist system and its effects on people. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Bertolt Brecht on war, politics, fascism.

Top 10 Bertolt Brecht Quotes

1. Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.
2. Bank robbery is an initiative of amateurs. True professionals establish a bank.
3. 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.
4. Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life.
5. It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality.
6. In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.
7. Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.
8. Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.
9. Boy Meets Girl, So What?
10. Everyone needs help from everyone.

Bertolt Brecht Image Quotes

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

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

Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes. — Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht Short Quotes

• All artforms are in the service of the greatest of all arts: the art of living.
• From the cradle to the coffin underwear comes first.
• Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of representation must change.
• Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.
• If you join the rat race — you're in the race of rats.
• Unfortunate the country that needs heroes!
• To those who does not know the world is on fire, I have nothing to say.
• Terrible is the temptation to be good.
• What's breaking into a bank compared with founding a bank?
• For once you must try not to shirk the facts: mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.

Bertolt Brecht Quotes About War

　When the leaders speak of peace 　The common folk know 　That war is coming 　When the leaders curse war 　The mobilization order is already written out. Every day, to earn my daily bread 　I go to the market where lies are bought 　Hopefully 　I take up my place among the sellers. 　 — Bertolt Brecht

We attacked a foreign people and treated them like rebels. As you know, it's all right to treat barbarians barbarically. It's the desire to be barbaric that makes governments call their enemies barbarians. — Bertolt Brecht

The war which is coming Is not the first one. There were Other wars before it. When the last one came to an end There were conquerors and conquered. Among the conquered the common people Starved. Among the conquerors The common people starved too. — Bertolt Brecht

War is like love, it always finds a way. — Bertolt Brecht

Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions. — Bertolt Brecht

When the leaders speak of peace, the common folk know war is coming. — 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

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

Their peace and their war Are like wind and storm. War grows from their peace. — Bertolt Brecht

Writers can't write as fast as governments make wars; because to write demands thinking. — Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht Quotes About Science

The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error. — Bertolt Brecht

Science knows only one commandment - contribute to science. — Bertolt Brecht

Science knows only one commandment -- contribute to science. — Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht Quotes About People

People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart. — Bertolt Brecht

A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls. — Bertolt Brecht

People are too durable, that's their main trouble. They can do too much to themselves, they last too long. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Righteous people have no sense of humor. — Bertolt Brecht

Would it not be simpler If the Government dissolved the people and elected another? — Bertolt Brecht

One can describe the world of today to the people of today only if one describes it as capable of alteration. — Bertolt Brecht

People who fight may lose. People who do not fight have already lost. — Bertolt Brecht

People cannot remain good unless good is expected of them. — Bertolt Brecht

People who understand everything get no stories. — Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht Quotes About Life

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

If art reflects life, it does so with special mirrors. — Bertolt Brecht

What a miserable thing life is: you're living in clover, only the clover isn't good enough. — Bertolt Brecht

Life is short and so is money. — Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht Famous Quotes And Sayings

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

We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself. — Bertolt Brecht

Those who take the most from the table, teach contentment. Those for whom the taxes are destined, demand sacrifice. Those who eat their fill, speak to the hungry, of wonderful times to come. Those who lead the country into the abyss, call ruling difficult, for ordinary folk. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes. — Bertolt Brecht

Sometimes I have visions of myself driving through hell, selling sulphur and brimstone, or through heaven peddling refreshments to the roaming souls. If me and the children I've got left could find a place where there's no shooting, I wouldn't mind a few years of peace and quiet. — 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

When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer. — Bertolt Brecht

Don’t accept the habitual as a natural thing. In times of disorder, of organized confusion, of de-humanized humanity, nothing should seem natural. Nothing should seem impossible to change. — 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

You don't need to pray to God any more when there are storms in the sky, but you do have to be insured. — 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

I am a playwright. I show What I have seen. In the man markets I have seen how men are traded. That I show, I, the playwright. — Bertolt Brecht

I'm in good form, taking no interest in things, neglecting clothes, meals, company, and feeling calm and stable as I write. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Right is its own defense. — Bertolt Brecht

Poverty makes you wise but it's a curse. — Bertolt Brecht

No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand. — Bertolt Brecht

What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone? — Bertolt Brecht

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

Little changes are the enemies of great changes. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Let nothing be called natural In an age of bloody confusion, Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanized humanity, lest all things Be held unalterable! — 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

Grub first, then ethics. — Bertolt Brecht

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

A man who sees another man on the street corner with only a stump for an arm will be so shocked the first time he'll give him sixpence. But the second time it'll only be a three penny bit. And if he sees him a third time, he'll have him cold-bloodedly handed over to the police. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Of all the works of man I like best Those which have been used. The copper pots with their dents and flattened edges The knives and forks whose wooden handles Have been worn away by many hands: such forms Seemed to me the noblest. — Bertolt Brecht

Go make yourself a plan And be a shining light. Then make yourself a second plan, For neither will come right. — Bertolt Brecht

Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of. — Bertolt Brecht

There are times when you have to choose between being human and having good taste. — Bertolt Brecht

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

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

When something seems ‘the most obvious thing in the world’ it means that any attempt to understand the world has been given up. — Bertolt Brecht

Art and science work in quite different ways: agreed. But, bad as it may sound, I have to admit that I cannot get along as an artist without the use of one or two sciences. ... In my view, the great and complicated things that go on in the world cannot be adequately recognized by people who do not use every possible aid to understanding. — 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

General, your tank is a powerful vehicle it smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men. but it has one defect: it needs a driver. — 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

For the task assigned them Men aren't smart enough or sly Any rogue can blind them With a clever lie. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Poverty makes you sad as well as wise. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Who struggles can fail. Who doesn't struggle has already failed! — Bertolt Brecht

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

Oh! Moon of Alabama We now must say good-bye We've lost our good old mama And must have whiskey Oh, you know why! — Bertolt Brecht

For the villainy of the world is great, and a man has to run his legs off to keep them from being stolen out fom underneath him. — Bertolt Brecht

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

The finest plans are always ruined by the littleness of those who ought to carry them out, for emperor himself can actually be nothing. — Bertolt Brecht

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

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

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

What's a joy to the one is a nightmare to the other. — Bertolt Brecht

Fearful is the seductive power of goodness. — Bertolt Brecht

The alienation effect in German epic theater is achieved not only through the actors, but also through music (chorus and song) andsets (transparencies, film strips, etc.). Its main purpose is to place the staged events in their historical context. — Bertolt Brecht

The storm that bends the birch trees Is held to be violent But how about the storm That bends the backs of the roadworkers? — Bertolt Brecht

Impact lies in the vicinity of mistakes. — Bertolt Brecht

A good soldier has his heart and soul in it. When he receives an order, he gets a hard on, and when he drives his lance through his enemy's guts, he comes. — Bertolt Brecht

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

When the house of a great one collapses Many little ones are slain. — Bertolt Brecht

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

There are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones. — Bertolt Brecht

You can't write poems about trees when the woods are full of policemen. — Bertolt Brecht

First feed the face, then talk right and wrong. — Bertolt Brecht

Love is the wish to give, not to receive. — Bertolt Brecht

Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral. — Bertolt Brecht

General, your tank is a powerful vehicle It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men. But it has one defect: It needs a driver. General, your bomber is powerful. It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant. But it has one defect: It needs a mechanic. General, man is very useful. He can fly and he can kill. But he has one defect: He can think. — Bertolt Brecht

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

Why be a man when you can be a success? — Bertolt Brecht

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

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

Schoenberg is too melodious for me, too sweet. — Bertolt Brecht

I don't know what a man is. Only that every man has his price. — Bertolt Brecht

Life Lessons by Bertolt Brecht

1. Brecht believed in the power of art to create social change and to challenge the status quo, encouraging us to think critically and be active participants in the world.
2. He also taught us to be mindful of the consequences of our actions, and to strive to create a more equitable and just society.
3. Brecht also encouraged us to embrace our own individuality and to strive for a more meaningful existence.