Peter Ustinov

"To all those who by accident or design, have not been included in this book."

"I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilized music in the world."

"Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first."

"Once we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our mind, our one duty is to furnish it well."

"Life was cheap in the Middle Ages. It has become cheaper since. It is only in specific battles for specific lives that our culture is put to the test, and with it our humanity."

"I am an optimist, unrepentant and militant. After all, in order not to be a fool, an optimist must know what a sad place the world can be. It is only the pessimist who finds this out anew every day."

"We have fought two wars to end war. In 1976, the nations of this world set aside the same amount of money for its starving children as the lavished on armaments every two hours. Can any right-minded man afford to be a pessimist? That was a luxury for easier days."

"The social sciences were for all those who had not yet decided what to do with their lives, and for all those whose premature frustrations led them into the sterile alleys of confrontation."

"Basically I'm a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy. I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations."

"Her virtue was that she said what she thought, her vice that what she thought didn't amount to much."

"I have four children which is not bad considering I'm not a Catholic."

"It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously."

"To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal."

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit."

"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done."

"Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find."

"The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come."

"He had a great sense of the good in people. He enjoyed the peculiarities that were part of humanity. … Filming can be desperately boring and he was always telling fantastic stories and being tremendously entertaining."

"He was a superb raconteur — never vicious, never cruel."

"Sir Peter had a magical way with children and an inimitable way of making their problems matter to people all over the world. He was one of UNICEF’s most effective and beloved partners, a man who exemplified the idea that one person can make a world of difference. … There are few parts of the globe where Sir Peter did not travel to meet with and advocate for children, and few communities that were not made better by his attention."

""Viele bedeutende Dramatiker waren auch Schauspieler"

"Stürbe der Snobismus, wäre das Lachen der Leidtragende."

"In der rätselhaften Welt des Kinos wächst die Feigheit proportional der Menge des investierten Geldes."

"Ich bereue nichts. Damit verschwendet man nur Zeit, die immer wertvoller wird."

"Es sind die Zweifel, die die Menschen vereinen. Ihre Überzeugungen trennen sie."

"Ein Philosoph ist ein Mann, der in Ermangelung einer Frau die ganze Welt umarmt."

"Der Engländer wiegt sich gern in dem Glauben, er könne über sich selbst lachen. Das tut er jedoch nur, um anderen den Spaß daran zu verderben, über ihn zu lachen."

"Ab und an sind die Vereinigten Staaten ungefähr so elegant wie ein Elefant beim Spitzentanz."

"Der Terrorismus, der im furchtbaren 11. September kulminierte, ist ein Krieg der Armen gegen die Reichen. Der Krieg ist ein Terrorismus der Reichen gegen die Armen."

"[...] der Terrorismus ist ein Krieg der Armen und der Krieg ist der Terrorismus der Reichen. Der Krieg ist kein Mittel im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus."

"Ein Junggeselle ist ein Mann, der aus den Erfahrungen anderer Konsequenzen gezogen hat."