War on Iraq runs the risk of turning the Middle East into an inexhaustible recruiting ground for anti- western terrorism.

There is no consensus even today on the merits of Napoleon - and certainly no agreement on the rights and wrongs of the origins of the First World War.

Men like Hitler and Stalin and their immediate lieutenants cannot plead in defence of their actions that these were justified by the accepted values of that time.

Prison is an expensive way of making bad people worse.

We, Britain and Germany, can neither of us be happy about our handling of the Iraq war.

Margaret Thatcher, growing up in a bombed and battered Britain, derived a distrust which has grown with the years not just of Germany but of all continental Europe.

It is normal for politicians in all countries to profess themselves the pupils of history, anxious to draw the right lessons from her teaching.

History provides no precise guidelines.

But Germany will always suffer, I fear, from the intensely dramatic character of the crimes of the Third Reich.

We should be wary of politicians who profess to follow history while only noticing those signposts of history that point in the direction which they themselves already favour.

We must admit that history is enjoyable to a large extent because it enables us to pass judgment on the past.

Reality depresses me. I need to find fantasy worlds and escape in them.

Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me.

We need to show the Congress that our Government is no longer on sale to the highest bidder. It belongs to the voters.

I swear my car won't run unless I'm picking my nose: At least, I'm that superstitious about it, so I don't want to take any chances.

Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.

The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world.

And there are lots of drug companies that are working on cure or medicine.

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?

Look in the mirror, and don't be tempted to equate transient domination with either intrinsic superiority or prospects for extended survival.

To love the right person is a comedy. To love the wrong person is a tragedy.