Abba Eban

Stand up and walk out of your history.

I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.

We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.

The remains of the old must be decently laid away; the path of the new prepared. That is the difference between Revolution and Progress.

If you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it — teach yourself to be impatient.

Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.

If your parents never had children, chances are you won’t, either.

I want to walk through life instead of being dragged through it.

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.

Credulity is the man’s weakness but the child’s strength.

The problem is that for women, the average time is just over 14 minutes… men are left with about 12 minutes during which time they need to think of something to do!

Wide awake and so confused.