“We should extinguish not candles, but torches, my good neighbour; we should fell not shrubs but trees: we should kill one giant instead of ten dwarfs!.. When there is an ostentatious cock crowing all over the place, what is the use of killing one insignificant chick? In a war you have to kill the king first; thus you can put an end to the battle more quickly!”

“Kings kill; jesters don’t; therefore the jesters of the kings are more valuable than the kings!”

“When chasing a hare, you must have more than one greyhounds about you; when one of them has failed, my dear neighbour, you call to the next ‘Get it!”

“How can you get giants out of a dwarf, my good chap? Can a thrush lay eagle’s egg? Can a dolphin give birth to a whale?”

“I’m saying that the leaders of the church have locked the sacred cow called science in the stable and they won’t let anybody enter; they should open it immediately so that we can milk that cow in the name of humanity and thus find the truth.”

“If you do goodness, do it in the name of goodness, not in the name of a religion! All goodnesses should be nameless!”

“Anyway, two men hugging each other is against nature. A ram should not hug another ram, and a he-goat should not hug another he-goat! Let a he-dog embrace a she-dog, and let a female cattle hug a bull, but a stallion should not embrace another stallion, and a cock should not reach for another cock!”