Quotes from Paul Hoffman

We should wage war not to win war, but to win peace.

You're the right colour for the Angel of Death, Mister Cale. But a little short.' 'I could cut your head off and stand on it. Then I'd be taller.

The full potential of labor can be utilized only if there is mobility in labor.

But I felt that most of us in the world today gave priority to our personal interests.

In its best prewar year, Europe with almost 300 million people had a gross national product of 150 billion dollars. In that same year, the United States with 150 million people had a gross national product of 300 billion dollars.

However, from the very beginning of the program, we made it perfectly clear that we would be out of Europe in four years; that whatever was to be accomplished had to be accomplished in that period of time.

The Europeans had made two promises to the United States if Marshall Plan help was forthcoming. The first promise was maximum self-help on the part of every country; and second, maximum mutual aid.

I would like to say that no man ever was given finer cooperation than that given me by President Truman.

The magic was in the Marshall Plan itself. It provided an opportunity for appealing and constructive work. In a sense, the mission chiefs were given the opportunity to help act as architects for the new Europe that was envisioned.

There are times we are givers, but others time we have to let others give to us.

As far as we were concerned, we were operators, we were administrators. I don't ever recall going to Dean Acheson and asking for any counsel or advice on administration, but I had the greatest respect for him, as I have today.

Yes, Jean Monnet was the father of the concept of a United States of Europe and his efforts more than those of any other single man helped change the thinking of European leaders.

If there was to be a new Europe, there not only had to be a common market, but also great mobility in labor.

At the time it seriously troubled me, but in drafting me as Marshall Plan Administrator, President Truman did as great a favor for me as one man can do for another. It opened my eyes to many things of which I was totally unaware and it was the beginning of my real education.

If he had listened to some of his advisors and had tried to make the Marshall Plan a political dumping ground for unqualified politicians, it couldn't have been a success.

Among the reasons for this was the fact that the U.S.A. is one mass market. It is only when you have a mass market that large-scale manufacturing which involves very substantial expenditures can be justified.

the older I get, the more I believe that if love is to be judged by most of its visible effects, it looks more like hatred than friendship.

If the dead can come back to this earth and move unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or if the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Why you? - (...) I'm the best. - Modest of you. - I am the best. Modesty has nothing to say about it.

the heart of a child can take forty-nine blows before it's damaged for ever and what's done can never be undone.

Solitude is a wonderful thing in two ways. First, it allows a man to be with himself, and second, it prevents him being with others.

Self-pity, while it should be accorded due respect, is the greatest of all acids to the human soul.

Hypocrites,' replied Cale, 'I've come across a lot of them recently. I mean by that I understand now how many of them there are.

You should never tell your best friend anything you wouldn´t be prepared to tell your worst enemy.