Peter Ustinov Zitate

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„Freunde sind die Familie, die wir uns selber aussuchen.“

„Bildung ist wichtig, vor allem wenn es gilt, Vorurteile abzubauen. Wenn man schon ein Gefangener seines eigenen Geistes ist, kann man wenigstens dafür sorgen, dass die Zelle anständig möbliert ist.“

„Ein Philosoph ist ein Mann, der in Ermangelung einer Frau die ganze Welt umarmt.“

„Es sind die Zweifel, die die Menschen vereinen. Ihre Überzeugungen trennen sie.“

„Terrorismus ist der Krieg der Armen und der Krieg ist der Terrorismus der Reichen.“

„Ich bereue nichts. Damit verschwendet man nur Zeit, die immer wertvoller wird.“

„In der rätselhaften Welt des Kinos wächst die Feigheit proportional der Menge des investierten Geldes.“

„Der Terrorismus, der im furchtbaren 11. September kulminierte, ist ein Krieg der Armen gegen die Reichen. Der Krieg ist ein Terrorismus der Reichen gegen die Armen.“

„Das Meer ist ruhig, hast du gesagt. Friedlich. Ruhig an der Oberflaeche aber darunter eine Welt schwimmender Monster, die andere Meeresbewohner jagen. Alles Moerder. Nur der mit den besten Zaehnen ueberlebt. Und wer kann schon sagen, dass es hier an Bord oder drueben auf dem Festland anders ist.“

„All die widerlich kalkulierte Heuchelei der Menschen, wenn sie im Namen der Gerechtigkeit einen Mord begehen.“

„Ab und an sind die Vereinigten Staaten ungefähr so elegant wie ein Elefant beim Spitzentanz.“

„Stürbe der Snobismus, wäre das Lachen der Leidtragende.“

„Viele bedeutende Dramatiker waren auch Schauspieler - Molière und Shakespeare beispielsweise. Sie kennen die Probleme eines Schauspielers, auch wenn die wenigsten gute Schauspieler waren.“

„Religion ist Aberglaube. Das macht einem Menschen die Alternativen bewusst.“

„[…] der Terrorismus ist ein Krieg der Armen und der Krieg ist der Terrorismus der Reichen. Der Krieg ist kein Mittel im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus.“

„Der einzige, der immer pünktlich ist, ist der Tod.“

„Komödie ist einfach eine seltsame Art, ernst zu sein.“

„Ihre Tugend war, dass sie sagte, was sie dachte, ihre Untugend, dass das, was sie dachte, nicht viel wert war.“

“Flogging. The only solution to every problem. I warrant even the culprit himself doesn't know! It was just — his turn!”

“Politicians only get to the top because they have no qualifications to detain them at the bottom.”

“The social sciences were for all those who had not yet decided what to do with their lives, and for all those whose premature frustrations led them into the sterile alleys of confrontation.”

“Pavarotti is not vain, but conscious of being unique.”

“You know Seymour, there are some men who cannot stand too much perfection. They see it as a disease, which must be stamped out at its first rash showing.”

“In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.”

“Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died.”

“Claggert: We must serve the law, sir, or give up the right and privilege of service. It is only within that law that we may use our discretions according to our rank.
Captain Vere: You're so intelligent and so lucid for the rank you hold, Master At Arms.
Claggert: I thank you, sir.
Captain Vere: Yes, that's no flattery, Mr. Claggart. It's a melancholy fact. It's sad to see such qualities of mind bent to such a sorry purpose. What's the reason for it?
Claggert: I am what I am, sir. And what the world has made me.
Captain Vere: The world? The world demands that behind every peacemaker there be the gun, the gallows, the jail. Do you think it will always be so?
Claggert: I have no reason not to, sir.
Captain Vere: You live without hope?
Claggert: I live.
Captain Vere: But remember, Mr. Claggart, that even the man who wields the whip cannot defy the code we must obey and not be broken by it. That will be all.”

“I'm Rally of Unionist Separist Extremes, sometimes known as the R. U. S. E. … It's the party at present in power.”

“There is no question but that if Jesus Christ, or a great prophet from another religion, were to come back today, he would find it virtually impossible to convince anyone of his credentials despite the fact that the vast evangelical machine on American television is predicated on His imminent return among us sinners.”

“Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.”

“I have Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Ethiopian blood in my veins.”

“Sex is a conversation carried out by other means.”

“Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.”

“Basically I'm a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy. I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations.”

“The truth is really an ambition which is beyond us.”

“Life was cheap in the Middle Ages. It has become cheaper since. It is only in specific battles for specific lives that our culture is put to the test, and with it our humanity.”

“Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find.”

“Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.”

“I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer.”

“Good-bye to you too ol' Rights of Man!”

“I'd rather be buried at sea than on the shore when I come to die. Will you stand by the plank, mates, so I can shake a friendly hand before I sink?”

“Billy Budd: You didn't even hate him. I think that sometimes you hate yourself. I was thinking, sir, the nights are lonely. Perhaps I could talk with you between watches when you've nothing else to do.
Claggert: Lonely. What do you know of loneliness?
Billy Budd: Them's alone that want to be.
Claggert: Nights are long. Conversation helps pass the time.
Billy Budd: Can I talk to you again, then? It would mean a lot to me.
Claggert: Perhaps to me, too. [His expression suddenly sours] Oh, no. You would charm me too, huh? Get away.”

“2nd Soldier: Do you mean that, as a General, you're not the tiniest bit ambitious for our military future?
General: I prefer our military past. The harm's done and there it is. As for being a General, well, at the age of four with paper hats and wooden swords, we're all Generals. Only some of us never grow out of it.”

“To all those who by accident or design, have not been included in this book.”

“To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal.”

“I hate being moved. I hate that man who came in. So self-righteous, so cruel. He made fun of me, that's why I cried. You never did that. You led me into temptation by your — politeness.”

“The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.”