the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags...
Literature shrivels in a universal language, and an uprooted language rots before it dies. And it should be possible to lift the eyes above the cant of the ‘language of Shakespeare’... sufficiently to realise the magnitude of the loss to humanity...
And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until th...
[following Erin's impassioned speech about the Nazi Holocaust] Tito: [raises hand] What's a holocaust? Erin Gruwell: Who here knows what the Holocaust is? [all keep their hands down except Ben, the only white kid, who sheepishly raises his] Erin Gruw...
Yazneg: [in Black Speech] The Dwarf-scum, Master... we lost them. Ambushed by Elvish filth, we were... Azog: I don't want excuses. I want the head of the Dwarf-king! Yazneg: There was nothing we could do! I barely escaped with my life! Azog: Far bett...
Gandalf: [talking inside The Prancing Pony] I ran into some unsavory characters whilst traveling along the Greenway. They mistook me for a vagabond. Thorin Oakenshield: I imagine they regretted that. Gandalf: One of them was carrying a message. [Gand...
King George VI: You know, ih... if I'm a... a King, where's my power? Can I... can I form a government? Can I... can I l-levy a tax, declare a... a war? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority. Why? Because... the nation believes that when I s... ...
[deleted scene] [last words] Gracchus: [to his maid Julia] The new master of Rome will be calling on me tomorrow, he wants me to make a speech. Take him to wherever I am and show me to him. And Julia, when I meet you in paradise, describe to me the e...
True eloquence is irresistible. It charms by its images of beauty, it enforces an argument by its vehement simplicity. Orators whose speeches are "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," only prevail where truth is not understood, for knowledge ...
So much enthusiasm about the non-existence of God is somewhat bewildering, as no one appears to be nearly as excited about a similar absence of belief in unicorns, vampires, werewolves, astrology, nation-building, or the Labor Theory of Value. Nor is...
Governments from the top fail as often as those from the bottom; and every great failure brings a sad social reaction, thousands and millions of helpless men laying down their lives in the unhappy process. Why may not statesmen study the past and avo...
Any inquiry into politics is an inquiry into faith.
You can't do anything that's not political in this time and age.
I think photographers are too polite. There is not enough anger in photography; it's pretty much trivialized.
Democracy isn't solely about polite conversations in parliaments. It needs to be continually refreshed with raw passions, anger and ideals.
I hate all that woozy political and psychotherapeutic crap applied to books and art.
Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.
Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics.
Politics is applied anywhere, even in heaven.
Frequent friction when love becomes political.
