German Quotes

Theology is anthropology.

If someone gives you so-called good advice, do the opposite; you can be sure it will be the right thing nine out of 10 times.

What is a historian, anyway? It is someone who uses facts to record the development of humanity.

There's only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there's no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future.

I should add that it is open to debate whether what we call the writing of history these days is truly scientific.

I have always made an effort to render every detail of my reality with the greatest accuracy; but I have never paid attention to whether my presentation of historical facts was an exact one.

From depicting the past, so goes the suspicion, it is a short step to glorifying the past.

Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects.

Both the historian and the novelist view history as the struggle of a tiny minority, able and determined to make judgments, which is up against a vast and densely packed majority of the blind, who are led by their instincts and unable to think for themselves.

An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary.

After closely examining my conscience, I venture to state that in my historical novels I intended the content to be just as modern and up-to-date as in the contemporary ones.

Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission.

An action doesn't have to be wrong just because it is not logical. It doesn't have to be right just because it has its logic.

Let justice be done, though the world perish.

The arts are very alive in Ireland, so that had its influence on me. But I consider myself European, really.

Scratch the surface of what's socially normal. I suppose in some way all of us have something we display to the public and things we feel too ashamed of or uncomfortable with to reveal to other people.

People are complicated. Our behavior towards one another is strange. So I like opportunities to investigate that.

Nobody wants to hear Metallica at lunchtime.

My goal was for acting to become my main income. I would say to myself, 'I'm good enough.' That became my mantra.

Magneto has a whole lot of complexity to him. Emotionally, he's coming from a very damaged place. I like the ambivalence of it. I want the audience leaving the theater wondering, asking the questions themselves rather than being spoon-fed like a lot of these super-villain characters.

It's more interesting isn't it, if I've got a hedonistic dark side?

If there's friends around, I'll cook. Or if I have a girlfriend. But on my own I kind of fell out of the habit of it, and it's a shame really because I know it's good for me. It's something quite therapeutic.

I've always been more inclined to go out to work than carry on with academic studies.

I'm fairly competitive.

I'm always interested in trying to investigate different personalities. I want to keep myself guessing and keep the fear element alive, so that I don't get too comfortable.

I take my work seriously but I can't take myself too seriously. I'm in such a crazy privileged position.

I keep everything very simple. I like telling stories.

I just went off for two months traveling around Europe on a motorcycle and pretty much turned my phone off. I did 5,000 miles with my dad. We went through Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Italy... and then I did Spain and France by myself.

I guess in the independent market, I'd be getting offers, but in terms of big studio films, I still have to audition. I don't think my name is that well-known, I don't have much of a following to guarantee box office success yet.