Quotes from Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

Even Einstein had to rely for his time on his clock.

The window to the world can be covered by a newspaper.

The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Sometimes something worth doing is worth overdoing.

Love of one's country recognizes no frontiers... of other countries.

First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.

The first requisite for immortality is death.

We looked into each other's eyes. I saw myself, she saw herself.

Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?

He who limps is still walking.

The greater the dark, the easier to be a star.

I am against using death as a punishment. I am also against using it as a reward.

Even the masochists tell everything when tortured. From sheer gratitude.

Even his ignorance is encyclopedic.

Hay smells different to lovers and horses.

The constitution of a country should not violate the constitutions of its citizens.

Oh, to be old again," said the young corpse.

Everything is illusion. Even that last sentence.

An empty envelope that is sealed contains a secret.

Satirists, be careful. In the 1931 film by Rene Clair "Vive la Liberte" a song says, "Work is freedom." In 1940 the sign on the gates to Auschwitz said: "Arbeit macht frei.

Their bodies were so close together that there was no room for real affection.

We understand everything; that is why we understand nothing.

Advice to writers: Sometimes you just have to stop writing. Even before you begin.

Do not expect too much of the end of the world.