“The vast majority of human beings dislike and even actually dread all notions with which they are not familiar... Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have generally been persecuted, and always derided as fools and madmen.”

“It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted.”

“The question of whether world peace will ever be possible can only be answered by someone familiar with world history. To be familiar with world history means, however, to know human beings as they have been and always will be. There is a vast difference, which most people will never comprehend, between viewing future history as it will be and viewing it as one might like it to be. Peace is a desire, war is a fact; and history has never paid heed to human desires and ideals ...”

“Reality wasn’t a syllogism like “Socrates is a man—all men are mortal—hence Socrates is mortal,” but more like “Helga is a human being—all telephone booths have been vandalized—hence Helga must die.” Or like: “Hitler is a human being—all Jews are animals—hence all Jews must die.”

“For us, persecution is like the sun coming up in the east. It happens all the time. It's the way things are. There is nothing unusual or unexpected about it. Persecution for our faith has always been - and probably always will be - a normal part of life. (Spoken by a Russian pastor)”

“Countless human beings wear masks which they hope will cover up what they dislike about themselves.”