Johann Ludwig Uhland
Let him sing to whom a song is given.
Gerhard Uhlenbruck
Because of their conviction fanatics can't be convinced.
We wear a carnival mask so we can drop our other mask.
Volker Ullrich
The stronger prevails: that is the law of nature. The world does not change. Such laws remain.
UNESCO
Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.
UNHCR – UN Refugee Agency
A reminder: the climate crisis is a human crisis. … And displacement is one of the most devastating human consequences.
Jesse Unruh
Money is the mother's milk of politics.
John Updike
Dirt being... simply matter in the wrong place. (‘The Witches of Eastwick')
Old age…arrived in increments of uncertainty. ('Free')
America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.
Youth is a kind of money, it makes people fawn. (‘The Witches of Eastwick’)
You must imagine your life, and then it happens. (‘The Witches of Eastwick’)
We all have ends. The heart beats time. Time beats us. (‘The Widows of Eastwick’)
We must lighten ourselves to survive. We must not cling.
...Music, that golden high-arched exit from this pit of pain and ignominy. (‘Witches of Eastwick’ last three)
Maybe God is in the universe the way salt is in the ocean, giving it a taste. ('Babbit is Rich')
Of plants tomatoes seemed the most human, eager and fragile and prone to rot. (‘Witches of Eastwick’)
A Witch can freeze water at a glance but sometimes unfreezing it is the problem. (‘Witches of Eastwick’)
Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.
Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.
Diversity – why do we all assume it's so good, when is is uniformity that makes us comfortable? (‘The Widows of Eastwick’)
Dogs perch on the edge of understanding, their bright eyes polished by the yearning to comprehend. (‘The Witches of Eastwick')
We carry our heredity concealed for a while and then it pushes through. Out of those narrow DNA coils. ('Rabbit is Rich')
...it's the death of sin that bothers me. Without sin, people aren't people any more, they're just soul-less sheep.
(‘The Widows of Eastwick’)
Energy comes from below, from the excluded and oppressed, from those with nothing to lose. It's like water in a pot on a stove: the hottest, on the bottom, rises to the top. (‘The Widows of Eastwick’)
Luis Alberto Urrea
The future shall be deferred.
Not all crosses are made of wood.
Feelings are not tight, and they are not wrong. Feelings only are.
If you are born to be a flood, you cannot insult heaven by insisting you are drought. (all 'Queen of America')
Johannes Urzidil
To follow advice blindly means to postpone responsibility.
Peter Ustinov
Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.
To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than normal.
V
Caterina Valente
Batchelors are people who rather search than find.
Karl Valentin
Art is beautiful. But it takes a lot of work.
Today are the good old times of tomorrow.
Paul Valery
Love is being stupid together.
Politeness is organised indifference.
Power without abuse loses its charm.
A businessman is a hybrid of a dancer and a calculator.
The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.
God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through.
Serious-minded people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.
Gloria Vanderbilt
The fame you earn has a different taste from the fame that is forced upon you.
Peter Varghese
(Values) should define who we are, not what we insist others become.
Craig Venter
We have a long way to go to understand life here.
We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it.
The diversity of the human species is not hard-wired in our genetic code. Our environments are critical.
Vergennes (18th century French Foreign Minister)
The influence of every power is measured by the opinion one has of its intrinsic force.
Jules Verne
Everything one person can imagine, another one can realize.
Gore Vidal
Every pancake has two sides. (Vidal's grandfather)
War is the no-win all-lose option.
It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.
Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.
There is not one human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.
Half of the American people never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.
George Villiers
Men's fame is like their hair, which grows after they are dead, and with just as little use to them.
Leonardo da Vinci
Learn diligence before speedy execution.
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
Who despises painting has no sense for the philosophy of nature.
Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active.
While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.
As a well done day makes for as happy sleep, so a well done life makes for a happy death.
During a discussion, he who relies on authority, only uses his memory and not his intellect.
The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.
As iron rusts from non-use and stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen - so does inaction weaken the sharpness of the mind.
Voltaire
The superfluous is very necessary.
Common sense is not so common.
The best is the enemy of the good.
Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.
A long quarrel proves that both sides are wrong.
Weakness on both sides is the root of all quarrels.
All kinds are good except the kind that bores you.
I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.
If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him.
Truth is a fruit which should not be plucked until it is ripe.
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.
The first clergyman was the first rascal who met the first fool.
It is as impossible to translate poetry as it is to translate music.
We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly.
The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force.
He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.
Since it's most beneficial for one's health I have decided to be happy.
If God created us in His image we have certainly returned the compliment.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
If you try to destroy passions instead of controlling them you are playing angel.
While I strongly disagree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother.
We are all full of weakness and errors; to pardon each other our follies ought to be the first law of nature.
In my life, I have prayed only one prayer: oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.
When he to whom a person speaks does not understand, and he who speaks does not understand himself, that is metaphysics.
If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other's throats. But if you have thirty religions, they will live in peace.
Kurt Vonnegut
To practice any art, no matter how well pr badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it!