“Fingers of steel. Wrist of silk.”
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Frédéric Chopin 30
Polish composer 1810–1849Related quotes

“[ Silke doth quench the fire in the kitchin. ]”
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
"Marlene Dietrich" (1967), p. 215
Profiles (1990)

“You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves.”
"omlets are not made without breaking eggs" first appeared in English in 1796. It is from the French, "on ne saurait faire d'omelette sans casser des œufs" (1742 and earlier), attributed to François de Charette.
In the context of the Soviet Union, Time magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753448-2,00.html attributes it to Lazar Kaganovich.
Walter Duranty associated with Stalin in the New York Times.
"But – to put it brutally – you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, and the Bolshevist leaders are just as indifferent to the casualties that may be involved in their drive toward socialization as any General during the World War who ordered a costly attack in order to show his superiors that he and his division possessed the proper soldierly spirit. In fact, the Bolsheviki are more indifferent because they are animated by fanatical conviction."
Walter Duranty, Special Cable to The New York Times http://www.artukraine.com/old/famineart/duranty.htm, The New York Times, New York, March 31, 1933, page 13.
Misattributed
Variant: You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.