Bertolt Brecht citations célèbres
“Il faut […] extirper la bêtise parce qu'elle rend bêtes ceux qui la rencontrent.”
Histoires de monsieur Keuner, 1956
“La science ne connaît qu'une loi: la contribution scientifique.”
La Vie de Galilée, 1938, Scène 14, Andrea
Livre Théâtre complet de Bertolt Brecht/L'Arche 3, L'Exception et la règle, Bernard Sobel, Jean Dufour, 1930, 7
L'Exception et la règle, 1930, Character Les acteurs
Livre Théâtre complet de Bertolt Brecht/L'Arche 3, L'Exception et la règle, Bernard Sobel, Jean Dufour, 1930, 14
L'Exception et la règle, 1930, Le Marchand.
La Vie de Galilée, 1938, Scène 9, Galilée
Citations sur la patrie de Bertolt Brecht
Livre Théâtre complet de Bertolt Brecht/L'Arche 5, La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, Armand Jacob, 1941, 233
La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, 1941, Troisième marchand de Chicago
Livre La Vie de Galilée, Bertolt Brecht, L’Arche, 1990, 2-85181-248-3, 118-119, 13, Éloi Recoing
La Vie de Galilée, 1938, Scène 13
Bertolt Brecht Citations
Livre La Vie de Galilée, Bertolt Brecht, L’Arche, 1990, 2-85181-248-3, 90, 9, Éloi Recoing
La Vie de Galilée, 1938, Scène 9, Galilée
Livre Théâtre complet de Bertolt Brecht/L'Arche 5, La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, Armand Jacob, 1941, 186
La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, 1941, Arturo Ui
Livre Théâtre complet de Bertolt Brecht/L'Arche 5, La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, Armand Jacob, 1941, 231
La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, 1941, Ernesto Roma
Livre Théâtre complet de Bertolt Brecht/L'Arche 5, La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, Armand Jacob, 1941, 237
La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui, 1941, ÉPILOGUE
Bertolt Brecht: Citations en anglais
“If art reflects life, it does so with special mirrors.”
¶ 73
A Short Organum for the Theatre (1949)
"Hollywood" (1942)
quoted in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 382
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
“You may proclaim, good sirs, your fine philosophy
But till you feed us, right and wrong can wait!”
Macheath in "Second Threepenny-Finale"; Act 2, scene 3, p. 67
Variant translations:
However much you twist, whatever lies you tell
Food is the first thing, morals follow on.
Used by the Pet Shop Boys, in "What Keeps Mankind Alive?", Can You Forgive Her (1993 EP)
Food first, then morality.
The Threepenny Opera (1928)
“Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.”
¶ 55
A Short Organum for the Theatre (1949)
“The rain
Never falls upwards.
When the wound
Stops hurting
What hurts is
The scar.”
"Poems Belonging to a Reader for Those who Live in Cities" [Zum Lesebuch für Städtebewohner gehörige Gedichte] (1926-1927), poem 10, trans. Frank Jones in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 148
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"The Solution" ["Die Lösung"] (c. 1953), as translated in Brecht on Brecht : An Improvisation (1967) by George Tabori, p. 17
Variant translation:
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had flyers distributed in Stalin Way that said
That the People had frivolously
Thrown away the Government's Confidence
And that they could only regain it
Through Redoubled Work. But wouldn't it be
Simpler if the Government
Simply dissolved the People
And elected another?
"When evil-doing comes like falling rain" [Wenn die Untat kommt, wie der Regen fällt] (1935), trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 247
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"Of the infanticide Marie Farrar" [Von der Kindesmörderin Marie Farrar] (1920) from Devotions (1922-1927); trans. Sidney H. Bremer in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 92
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
“Little changes are the enemies of great changes.”
"Quotation" [Zitat] (1930s), trans. Michael Morley in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 277
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle", in "From a German War Primer", part of the Svendborg Poems (1939); as translated by Lee Baxandall in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 289
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
“How long
Do works endure? As long
As they are not completed.”
Wie lange
Dauern die Werke? So lange
Als bis sie fertig sind.
"About the way to construct enduring works" [Über die Bauart langdauernder Werke] (1932), trans. Frank Jones in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 193
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"Emphasis on Sport" in the Berliner Börsen-Courier (6 February 1926), as quoted in Brecht on Theatre (1964) edited and translated by John Willett.
“The headlong stream is termed violent
But the river bed hemming it in is
Termed violent by no one.”
"On Violence" [Über die Gewalt] (1930s), trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 276
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
Polly Peachum, in Act 3, scene 1, p. 74
Variant translation: The law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don't understand it, or are prevented by naked misery from obeying it.
The Threepenny Opera (1928)
"This Summer's Sky" [Der Himmel dieses Sommers], (1953), trans. Michael Hamburger in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 444
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
“First comes a full stomach, then comes ethics.”
The Threepenny Opera (1928)
“Their peace and their war
Are like wind and storm.War grows from their peace.”
"Those at the top say: peace and war" [Die Oberen sagen: Friede und Krieg] from "A German War Primer" [Deutsche Kriegsfibel] (1937), trans. Lee Baxendall in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 288
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"Speech to Danish working-class actors on the art of observation" [Rede an dänische Arbeiterschauspieler über die Kunst der Beobachtung] (1934), from The Messingkauf Poems, published in Versuche 14 (1955); trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 238
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"Song about my mother" [Lied von meiner Mutter], from "Thirteen Psalms" (1920), trans. Christopher Middleton in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 40
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"In Praise of the Fighters" (song)
Variant translation: There are men who struggle for a day and they are good.
There are men who struggle for a year and they are better.
There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still.
But there are those who struggle all their lives:
These are the indispensable ones.
As quoted in Democracy Unbound : Progressive Challenges to the Two Party System (1997) by David Reynolds; also quoted by Cuban musician and poet Silvio Rodríguez before his song "Sueño con serpientes".
Also quoted by Eduardo Galeano (Uruguayan writer) to describe Nestor Kirchner as he received the notice of his death.
The Mother (1930)
"Speech to Danish working-class actors on the art of observation" [Rede an dänische Arbeiterschauspieler über die Kunst der Beobachtung] (1934), from The Messingkauf Poems, published in Versuche 14 (1955); trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, pp. 235-236
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
“Spring is noticed, if at all
By people sitting in railway trains.”
"Concerning spring" [Über das Frühjahr] (1928), Uhu, Berlin, IV, 6 (March 1928); trans. Christopher Middleton in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 158
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"To my mother" [Meiner Mutter] (May 1920), trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 49
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
“Science has only one commandment: contribution.”
Andrea, in Scene 13, p. 122
As translated by Howard Brenton (1980)
Life of Galileo (1939)
Variante: Science knows only one commandment — contribute to science.
“People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart.”
Garga, in In the Jungle of Cities [Im Dickicht der Städte] (1923) , sc. 9; also translated as In the Swamp and Jungle of Cities.
As cited in Gregory Alexander Knott, Arnold Stadler: Heimat and Metaphysics http://books.google.gr/books?id=ylhXAAAAYAAJ&q=, Weidler Buchverlag, 2009, p. 30.
“The main objective is to learn to think crudely. Crude thinking is the great one’s thinking.”
Dreigroschenroman (1934), reprinted in Gesammelte Werke, vol. 13 (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1967), 916.
“The world of knowledge takes a crazy turn
When teachers themselves are taught to learn.”
Scene 6
Life of Galileo (1939)
"The Plum Tree" [Der Pfaumenbaum] (1934) from The Svendborg Poems [Svendborger Gedichte] (1939); in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 243
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
"Alphabet" [Alfabet] from "Five Children's Songs" (1934), trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 239
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
