The German Reich is a Republic, and whoever doesn't believe it gets one in the neck.

But the main things about a man are his eyes and his feet. He should be able to see the world and go after it.

And if you ask again whether there is any justice in the world, you'll have to be satisfied with the reply: Not for the time being; at any rate, not up to this Friday.

Writing is not chewing your nails and picking your teeth, but a matter of public interest.

Cultivate your Futurism. I'll cultivate my Döblinism.

You shouldn't be a big shot about your fate. I'm an enemy of Destiny, I'm not a Greek, I'm a Berliner.

No country is so peaceful as the one that leads into death. Life arches above one's head like a bridgespan, and below it flows the water, carries the boat, takes it further.

Much unhappiness comes from walking alone. When there are several, it's somewhat different. I must get into the habit of listening to others, for what the others say concerns me, too.

The cities are the principal home and seat of the human group. They are the coral colony for Man, the collective being.

One encounters very capable fathers abashed by their piano-playing daughters. Three measures of Schumann make them red with embarrassment.

My books, at any rate, deserved to be burned.

I will hold my babies in my hand at sacred-time.

Hope is the damnedest of all feckless emotions.

A person that doesn't know their worth will never know yours. Therefore, the longer you hang onto hope that they will finally see your worth is the moment you start to depreciate in value.

There is something more beautiful than a beautiful thing and that is a beautiful thing which has a beautiful reflection on the water!

The sound of 'gentle stillness' after all the thunder and wind have passed will the ultimate Word from God.

Let us treasure up in our soul some of those things which are permanent..., not of those which will forsake us and be destroyed, and which only tickle our senses for a little while.

I am very happy in second-hand bookshops; would a gardener not be happy in a garden?

I think heroes are important in the lives of kids because it shows a child what to become, it shows a child what's possible; it shows a child not just by theory but by active example.

Non-ambiguity is the shaping force of reality.

The best thing a writer can do is walk. Walking gives you ideas.