Bertolt Brecht quotes

Bertolt Brecht was a German playwright, poet, and theatre director, renowned for his contributions to modern drama. His innovative approach, known as epic theatre, challenged traditional theatrical norms and encouraged audiences to think critically about social issues. He remains an influential figure in world literature and theatre. Here are 142 of his quotes:

Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life. (Bertolt Brecht)
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
To live means to finesse the processes to which one is subjugated. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Sometimes it's more important to be human, than to have good taste. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
The world of knowledge takes a crazy turn when teachers themselves are taught to learn. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
You don't need to pray to God any more when there are storms in the sky, but you do have to be insured. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Unfortunate the country that needs heroes! View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions. (Bertolt Brecht)
Science knows only one commandment - contribute to science. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
What is robbing a bank compared with founding a bank. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Why be a man when you can be a success? View quote
Bertolt Brecht
War is like love; it always finds a way. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone? (Bertolt Brecht)
Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
What is the burgling of a bank to the founding of a bank? View quote
Bertolt Brecht
For once you must try not to shirk the facts mankind is kept alive by bestial acts. View quote
Bertolt Brecht
We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself. View quote
Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht - Image
Photo: Wikimedia commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Occupation: German Poet
Born: February 10, 1898
Died: August 14, 1956
Quotes count: 142
Wikipedia: Bertolt Brecht

Related authors

Constantin Stanislavski - thumbnail
Constantin Stanislavski  9 
Russian Actor
Samuel Beckett - thumbnail
Samuel Beckett  188 
Irish Playwright
Antonin Artaud - thumbnail
Antonin Artaud  49 
French Poet
Franz Kafka - thumbnail
Franz Kafka  334 
Writer
Thomas Mann  178 
German Novelist
Hermann Hesse - thumbnail
Hermann Hesse  319 
German Novelist
Walter Benjamin - thumbnail
Walter Benjamin  106 
German Critic
Henrik Ibsen - thumbnail
Henrik Ibsen  104 
Norwegian Playwright
Karl Marx - thumbnail
Karl Marx  368 
German Philosopher
Friedrich Dürrenmatt - thumbnail
Friedrich Dürrenmatt  62 
Swiss Author