“That is what war is and dancing it is forward and back, when one is out walking one wants not to go back the way they came but in dancing and in war it is forward and back.”
War
“An audience is always warming but it must never be necessary to your work.”
WorkAll Quotes by Gertrude Stein
“It is extraordinary that whole populations have no projects for the future, none at all. It certainly is extraordinary, but it is certainly true.”
Future“When they are alone they want to be with others, and when they are with others they want to be alone. After all, human beings are like that.”
Alone“A real failure does not need an excuse. It is an end in itself.”
Failure“I know what Germans are. They are a funny people. They are always choosing someone to lead them in a direction which they do not want to go.”
Funny“It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business.”
Business“The contemporary thing in art and literature is the thing which doesn't make enough difference to the people of that generation so that they can accept it or reject it.”
Art“War is never fatal but always lost. Always lost.”
War“Money is always there but the pockets change it is not in the same pockets after a change, and that is all there is to say about money.”
Change“It is very easy to love alone.”
Alone“There is too much fathering going on just now and there is no doubt about it fathers are depressing.”
Dad“Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to me an existence and has a stake in what happens.”
Women“The nineteenth century believed in science but the twentieth century does not.”
Science“Every adolescent has that dream every century has that dream every revolutionary has that dream, to destroy the family.”
Family“It is funny that men who are supposed to be scientific cannot get themselves to realise the basic principle of physics, that action and reaction are equal and opposite, that when you persecute people you always rouse them to be strong and stronger.”
Funny“It is the soothing thing about history that it does repeat itself.”
History“It is extraordinary that when you are acquainted with a whole family you can forget about them.”
Family“It is funny the two things most men are proudest of is the thing that any man can do and doing does in the same way, that is being drunk and being the father of their son.”
Funny“Men cannot count, they do not know that two and two make four if women do not tell them so.”
Women“In a war everybody always knows all about Switzerland, in peace times it is just Switzerland but in war time it is the only country that everybody has confidence in, everybody.”
Peace