All Quotes

"It has been said that the United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell."

"A man of firm convictions does not ask, and does not receive, understanding from those with whom he comes into conflict. ... A mature man is his own judge. In the end, his only firm support is being faithful to his own convictions. The advice of others may be welcome and valuable, but it does not free him from responsibility. Therefore, he may become very lonely."

"The UN is not just a product of do-gooders. It is harshly real. The day will come when men will see the UN and what it means clearly. Everything will be all right — you know when? When people, just people, stop thinking of the United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction, and see it as a drawing they made themselves."

"Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon."

"I never discuss discussions."

"In a political context of the utmost significance, ["freedom from fear"] recognizes a human right which, in a broad sense, may be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights."

"Do we refer to the purposes of the Charter? They are expressions of universally shared ideals which cannot fail us, though we, alas, often fail them. Or do we think of the institutions of the United Nations? They are our tools. We fashioned them. We use them. It is our responsibility to remedy any flaws there may be in them. ... This is a difficult lesson for both idealists and realists, though for different reasons. I suppose that, just as the first temptation of the realist is the illusion of cynicism, so the first temptation of the idealist is the illusion of Utopia."

"I argued that it was important not to place too much reliance on any single piece of experimental evidence. It might turn out to be misleading, as the 5.1 Å reflection undoubtedly was. Jim was a little more brash, stating that no good model ever accounted for all the facts, since some data was bound to be misleading if not plain wrong. A theory that did fit all the data would have been "carpentered" to do so and would thus be open to suspicion. (pp. 59-60)"

"It is not the Soviet Union or indeed any other big Powers who need the United Nations for their protection. It is all the others. In this sense, the Organization is first of all their Organization and I deeply believe in the wisdom with which they will be able to use it and guide it. I shall remain in my post during the term of my office as a servant of the Organization in the interests of all those other nations, as long as they wish me to do so. In this context the representative of the Soviet Union spoke of courage. It is very easy to resign; it is not so easy to stay on. It is very easy to bow to the wish of a big power. It is another matter to resist. As is well known to all Members of this Assembly, I have done so before on many occasions and in many directions. If it is the wish of those nations who see in the Organization their best protection in the present world, I shall now do so again."

"You try to save a drowning man without prior authorization."

"Those who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict."

"The Assembly has witnessed over the last weeks how historical truth is established; once an allegation has been repeated a few times, it is no longer an allegation, it is an established fact, even if no evidence has been brought out in order to support it."

"Setbacks in trying to realize the ideal do not prove that the ideal is at fault."

"It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. It is when we all play safe that fatality will lead us to our doom. It is in the "dark shade of courage" alone that the spell can be broken."

"The breaking wave and the muscle as it contracts obey the same law. Delicate line gathers the body's total strength in a bold balance. Shall my soul meet so severe a curve, journeying on its way to form?"

"Gotham City 14 miles"

"My favorite show when I was a kid was the Adam West Batman. When I watched it as a kid, it was totally real and intense and bad things were happening, but my parents were laughing at it, and I couldn't understand what they thought was so funny. When I saw it again when I was older, I realized that it was a comedy. I realized I needed to try to make a show that works both ways. That's a really good challenge to try to pull off. I guess we seem to be doing it. Kids might not get a lot of the jokes, but they're enjoying the action, and adults are picking up on the little innuendoes."

"It had to be played as though we were dropping a bomb on Hiroshima, with that kind of deadly seriousness."

"We were making overstated morality plays for children that adults could watch and enjoy. We played it terribly serious, and that's half the fun of it."

"You get terribly typecast playing a character like that. But in the overall, I'm delighted because my character became iconic and has opened a lot of doors in other ways, too."

"Adam West - Bruce Wayne/Batman"

"Burt Ward - Dick Grayson/Robin"

"Alan Napier - Alfred Pennyworth"

"Neil Hamilton - Police Commissioner James Gordon"

"Stafford Repp - Police Chief O'Hara"

"Madge Blake - Aunt Harriet Cooper (1966-1967)"

"Yvonne Craig - Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (1967-1968)"

"William Dozier - Narrator"

"Burgess Meredith - The Penguin (20 episodes)"

"Cesar Romero - The Joker (19 episodes)"

"Julie Newmar - Catwoman (13 episodes)"

"David Lewis - Warden Crichton (10 episodes)"

"Frank Gorshin - The Riddler (10 episodes)"

"Master and slave wear the yoke together. Anarchy is the only true freedom."

"No—living on after the memory died was mere farce, pointless and awful."

"I like to consider my mind an open door. It's just not a revolving door."

"Your assumption, and the truth, dine at totally separate tables."

"And then she was tired of talk again, tired of its uselessness. It had never been any more than it was now: whispers against the great roar of the world, half-heard and less understood."

"Maya was very insistent that they learn their math well. “You’re getting a horrible education,” she would say, shaking her head darkly. “But if you learn your math you can catch up later.”"

"I've not given them (the poor people of Bihar) heaven, but I've given them a voice."

"For of course it was impossible that she was doing it all without cause. That was the nature of power; when you had it no one was ever again simply a friend, simply a lover. Inevitably they all wanted things you could give them—if nothing else, the prestige of friendship with the powerful."

"It was a mistake to speak one’s mind at any time, unless it perfectly matched your political purpose; and it never did. Best to strip all statements of real content, this was a basic law of diplomacy."

"In games there are rules, but in life the rules keep changing."

"Friendship was just diplomacy by other means, after all."

"They were so ignorant! Young men and women, educated very carefully to be apolitical, to be technicians who thought they disliked politics, making them putty in the hands of their rulers, just like always. It was appalling how stupid they were, really, and he could not help lashing into them."

"Some of them defined ideology as an imaginary relationship to a real situation."

"It was a world of acts, and words had no more influence on acts than the sound of a waterfall has on the flow of the stream."

"Historical analogy is the last refuge of people who can’t grasp the current situation."

"How was it that destruction could be so beautiful? Was there something in the scale of it? Was there some shadow in people, lusting for it? Or was it just a coincidental combination of the elements, the final proof that beauty has no moral dimension?"

"“Have you told her that?” “You bet I have, but Hiroko only listens to me when I say things she wants to hear.” He cackled. “Same as with everyone, right?”"