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The sea is calm you said. Peaceful. Calm above, but below a world of gliding monsters preying on their fellows. Murderers, all of them. Only the strongest teeth survive. And who's to tell me it's any different here on board, or yonder on dry land.

— Peter Ustinov Billy Budd (1962)

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More quotes by Peter Ustinov

To be gentle, tolerant, wise and reasonable requires a goodly portion of toughness.

Who Said That? (1984)

Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Great Quotes for All Occasions (2008)

Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.

Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died.

All the hideously calculated hypocrisy of men when they commit a murder in the name of justice.

Romanoff and Juliet (1956)

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Attribution

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