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The headlong stream is termed violent
But the river bed hemming it in is
Termed violent by no one.

— Bertolt Brecht Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)

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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.

Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)

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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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.