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Andrea: Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero.
Galileo: No, Andrea: Unhappy is the land that needs a hero. [Unglücklich das Land, das Helden nötig hat.]

— Bertolt Brecht Life of Galileo (1939)

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Variants

s: Pity the country that needs heroes. Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes

Topics

Heroes

More quotes by Bertolt Brecht

Oh why do we not say the important things, it would be so easy, and we are damned because we do not.

Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)

Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.

Spring is noticed, if at all
By people sitting in railway trains.

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Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life.

The Mother (1930)

Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. (Weil die Dinge sind, wie sie sind, werden die Dinge nicht so bleiben wie sie sind.)

Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1976)

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The blood of the heroes is closer to God than the ink of the philosophers and the prayers of the faithful.

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Heroism is a myth you tell idealistic young people—specifically when you want them to go bleed for you.

Brandon Sanderson Rhythm of War (2020)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Bertolt Brecht (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.