Питер Устинов цитаты

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„Родители — это кость, об которую дети точат зубы.“

„Наш Господь был холостяком, поэтому можно предположить, что его указания по этой части носили скорее теоретический, чем практический характер.“

„Жизнь слишком коротка, но было бы сущим кошмаром, будь она слишком длинна.“

„Сила воображения прекраснейшим образом заменяет отсутствие опыта.“

„Играть по ТВ — все равно что развлекать пассажиров корабля, в то время как корабль тонет.“

„Люди, которые знают слишком много языков, редко имеют что сказать на любом из них.“

„Политика есть искусство удерживать людей от участия в делах, которые их прямо касаются.“

„Люди смертны, и это дает им мерило качества. Будь Бетховен бессмертен, он написал бы тысячи симфоний, бесконечно повторяющих друг друга и, вероятно, неотличимых одна от другой даже степенью своей посредственности.“

„Мы восхищаемся людьми за их силу, но любим их за их слабость.“

„В чем разница между обычной и народной демократией? В народной демократии люди не могут свободно говорить, что думают, и поэтому их мнение оставляется без внимания; а в обычной демократии, такой, как на Западе, люди могут свободно говорить, что думают, и поэтому их мнение оставляется без внимания.“

„Жизнь, как заметил Джон Ф. Кеннеди, нечестный арбитр, но помни: иногда она ошибается в твою пользу.“

„Жизнь — это марафон, в котором спринт откладывают на самый конец.“

„Если бы я на один день стал королем, я подождал бы с реформами до завтра.“

„Я не могу хранить верность флагу, если не знаю, в чьих он руках.“

„Я верю, что новичкам везет. Вот почему я так часто берусь за что-нибудь новое.“

„Будь у героев время подумать, героизма вовсе бы не было.“

„Бог создал мужчину, а потом снабдил его компаньоншей, чтобы дать ему сильнее почувствовать свое одиночество.“

„В чем разница между Мэгги Тэтчер и Жанной д’Арк? Жанна слышала голоса, а Мэгги слышит лишь свой собственный голос.“

„Для мужчины брак означает старт, для женщины — приземление.“

„В Голливуде полно пятидесятилетних мужчин, которые следят за собой так тщательно, что можно принять их за очень здоровых шестидесятилетних.“

„В мое время были вещи, которые можно было делать, и вещи, которых нельзя было делать, и были способы делать то, чего нельзя было делать.“

„Драматургия выше актерской игры. Играть хорошо, разумеется, трудно. Но написать плохую пьесу труднее, чем плохо сыграть свою роль.“

„«Качества, необходимые лидеру…» По-немецки лидер — это фюрер.“

“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.”