I saw the way to achieve all my dreams. . . . I would found a religion, I saw myself marching on the way to Asia, mounted on an elephant, a turban on my head, and in my hand a new Koran that I would have composed to suit my needs. In my enterprises I would have combined the experiences of the two worlds, exploiting the realm of all history for my own profit.

History proves that dictatorships do not grow out of strong and successful governments, but out of weak and helpless ones.

We must not focus on occupying the spaces where power is exercised, but rather on starting long-run historical processes. We must initiate processes rather than occupy spaces.

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while.

Hitlers come and go, but Germany and the German people remain.

The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes.