305 Quotes by Arthur Koestler

The ultimate truth is penultimately always a falsehood. He who will be proved right in the end appears to be wrong and harmful before it.

A shapeless figure bent over him, he smelt the fresh leather of the revolver belt; but what insignia did the figure wear on the sleeves and shoulder straps of its uniform—and in whose name did it raise the dark pistol barrel?A second, smashing blow hit him on the ear. Then all became quiet. There was the sea again with its sounds. A wave slowly lifted him up. It came from afar and travelled sedately on, a shrug of eternity.

A faith is not acquired by reasoning. One does not fall in love with a woman, or enter the womb of a church, as a result of logical persuasion. Reason may defend an act of faith-but only after the act has been committed, and the man com­mitted to the act.

Each wrong idea we follow is a crime committed against future generations.

You opposed fascism, then you ditched communism.'No, I didn’t. Communism ditched me by turning into Stalinism'.

...Una vez hubo un matemático que dijo que el álgebra era una ciencia para la gente perezosa, puesto que uno no conoce el valor de X,pero opera con él como si lo conociese. En nuestro caso, X representa a las masas anónimas, al pueblo. La política es el arte de hacer operaciones con esta X sin preocuparse por conocer su naturaleza real, mientras que hacer historia consiste en dar a X el valor exacto que debe tener en la ecución.

Solitary confinement is rock bottom, it’s absolute unfreedom.

O progresso da ciência, tal como uma antiga trilha no deserto, está juncado pelos descolorados esqueletos de teorias rejeitadas, que um dia pareceram ter vida eterna.

Brain-washing starts in the cradle.