Aphorisms

39 selected aphorisms by Sir Peter Ustinov

  1. "We must build bridges to each other, if we want to have a prospect of salvation in this insane world."
  2. "Doubts not love are the spurs of the world."
  3. "It is of primordial importance to learn more every year than the year before."
  4. "Life is imperfect and therefore it must be lived to the full."
  5. "Education is not confined to school. It continues relentlessly to the end of life."
  6. "I am not a hero worshipper. We admire people for their strengths but love them for their weaknesses."
  7. "What sickens me most is the existence of poverty in wealthy countries and of wealthy people in poor countries. In each case it doesn't belong there."
  8. "Most of us are generally united by our doubts and divided by our convictions."
  9. "I am very happy - because I often in my life had the chance of being unhappy and just did not take it."
  10. "Fate is much too serious to leave it to luck."
  11. "An optimist is one who knows exactly how sad the world can be, while a pessimist is one who finds out anew every morning."
  12. "Children need our special care because they are our future."
  13. "If a baby is crying next door, we cannot tell its colour or its race by the sound of its voice, its only means of expression. The raw material is the same until the prejudices of tradition begin to erode virgin sensibilities, and a particular view of history identifies longstanding enmities."
  14. "Education is important, especially in alleviating prejudice. If you are going to be prisoner of your own mind, the least you can do is to make sure that your cell is well-furnished."
  15. "If you see the things God tolerates on earth you get the feeling he is still experimenting."
  16. "Things only become evil when they are no longer funny." 
  17. "I am at my happiest with imperfect happiness. Perfection has no personality."
  18. "Silence is man's highest good."
  19. "To know one's rights is one thing. To exercise them is another."
  20. "Doubts are the spurs of thoughts."
  21. "Those who do not doubt must be insane."
  22. "Prejudice is one of the biggest villains in the cast list of history - it uses sheer lack of knowledge as ultimate weapon."
  23. "To be mild, to be tolerant, to be wise and sensible - you've got to be really tough."
  24. "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."
  25. "Religion is superstition. It makes a man conscious of the alternatives."
  26. "The trouble with the people who live for revenge is that they're never quite sure when they've had it - and so, to be on the safe side, they go on and on, endlessly."
  27. "All nations have their altar-pieces of the mind. These are the deep-rooted causes of human conflict and gratuitous belligerency."
  28. "I never had much rapport with kids - even when I was a kid."
  29. "Ethnically, I am very dirty and very proud of it."
  30. "The generals say war is over when the last shot has been fired. But that is not true: War goes on and on and on…"
  31. "Any child worth his salt will learn more by reaction against than obedience to."
  32. „"Sometimes I get the feeling that I have never played "Nero" but George W. Bush and the audience does not note any difference."
  33. "Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth. Grandparents have a different role altogether: they provide the forbidden fruits … Parents invariably disappoint their children, seldom fulfilling the promise of their early years."
  34. "One of the most important movement types of mankind is to shorten the other's way by half."
  35. "Clichés are highly horrible things, but truths must be said. In the end you find that all clichés are true - and that's the bitterest pill of all."
  36. "For me, the sound of laughter has always been the most cultivated music in the world."
  37. "The main difference between man and animal is man's ability to laugh."
  38. "The acceptance of differences is the prerequisite for the surprise of commonness."
  39. "My home is civilized behaviour."