Tom Stoppard Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Responsibilities gravitate to the person who can shoulder them.”

“A movie camera is like having someone you have a crush on watching you from afar - you pretend it's not there.”

“All your life, you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye. And when something nudges it into outline, it is like being ambushed by a grotesque.”

“That I have the right to express myself freely at all times in all circumstances entails the idea that free speech is a 'basic human right' possessed by each individual, and, as such, trumps the interests of the society or group, including my neighbour.”

“Life is a gamble, at terrible odds - if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.”

“What is the society we wish to protect? Is it the society of complete surveillance for the commonwealth? Is this the wealth we seek to have in common - optimal security at the cost of maximal surveillance?”

“We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.”

“From principles is derived probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts.”

“The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily. That is what tragedy means.”

“For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child. A child knows what is fair and isn't fair, and justice derives from that knowledge.”