“You [demagogues] are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing is good; in the same way it's only in troublous times that you line your pockets.”

“If you try to breathe water, you will not turn into a fish, you will drown; but water is still good to drink.”

“Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure.They’re huge and abstract. And they’re very beautiful.”

“You know it's a bad case when the only way you can catch up on your sleep is to get unconscious.”

“If you want to call attention to your good deed then it isn't a good deed, it's a self-serving one. Why? Not only have you patted yourself on the back but you're fishing for others to do the same.”

“Talking to you is like -- like talking to an eel!""No, is it? I've never tried to talk to an eel. Isn't it as waste of time?""Not such a waste of time as talking to you!”