Karel Čapek Quotes

Něco antika neměla; to, co máme my severním podnebím, ten teplý poměr k domu, ke krbu, k rodině, k ženě, k dětem; Řekům a Římanům chybí naše zima, nevědí, co je to sedět v teple, děti kolem matky a babičky. Antický člověk politizovat a filozofoval na ulici; my se zavřeme doma a můžeme špekulovat nad knihami.

Without a sense of art, it is impossible ever to think of something new. We need to be poets if we are to keep the world moving.

"Robot" is a machine that makes the functions of a man.

Cleverness is usually cruel, malicious and selfish; it seeks a weakness in its neighbor and exploits it for its own gain; it leads to success. [...:] Reason is frequently cruel to man, but it is true to its intentions; it seeks to profit everyone ...

Perhaps we've been killed these hundred years and are only ghosts. It's as if I had been through all this before; as if I'd already had a mortal wound here in the throat.

«На сцене — пятый акт трагедии человечества, — так начал свой труд Вольф Мейнерт. — Не будем обманываться его лихорадочной предприимчивостью и технической вооруженностью; это лишь предсмертный румянец на лице организма, уже отмеченного печатью гибели. Никогда еще человечество не переживало столь благоприятной конъюнктуры для его существования; однако же — покажите мне хоть одного человека, который был бы счастлив, хоть один класс, который был бы доволен своим положением, или нацию, которая не ощущала бы угрозы для себя. Мы окружены всеми дарами цивилизации, поистине крезовым богатством духовных и материальных ценностей, — однако нас все больше и больше охватывает неотвратимое чувство неуверенности, беспокойства и надвигающейся беды». Немилосердно

Lamanskij mi řekl rovnou, ţe Rusové mají zájem jen o Slovany
pravoslavné, nejvýše ještě o Slováky, protoţe jsou stejně naivní jako ruský boţí lid; nás
Čechy, jako liberály a západníky, by nechali jít k čertu.

" — Това е то днешното възпитание — провъзгласи старият Янечек. — А като река понякога да кажа нещо на сина, той ще ми отвърне: "Ти не ги разбираш тия работи, тате, днес е друго време, друга епоха" — то дори и за костените оръжия не можело да се каже, че били последна дума. „Един ден, казва, хората ще измислят още по-инакъв материал…“ Ето това, знаеш ли, вече е прекалено: като че ли някога някой е виждал друг, по-здрав материал от камъка, дървото и кокала! Сега вече и ти самата, която си една глупава жена, трябва да признаеш, че... че... че това минава границите на всичко!"

After Us, the Salamanders!, The Future belongs to the Newts, Newts Mean Cultural Revolution. Even if they don't have their own art (they explained) at least they are not burdened with idiotic ideals, dried up traditions and all the rigid and boring things taught in schools and given the name of poetry, music, architecture, philosophy and culture in any of its forms. The word culture is senile and it makes us sick. Human art has been with us for too long and is worn-out and if the newts have never fallen for it we will make a new art for them. We, the young, will blaze the path for a new world of salamandrism: we wish to be the first newts, we are the salamanders of tomorrow! And so the young poetic movement of salamandrism was born, triton - or tritone - music was composed and pelagic painting, inspired by the shape world of jellyfish, fish and corals, made its appearance. There were also the water regulating structures made by the newts themselves which were discovered as a new source of beauty and dignity. We've had enough of nature, the slogans went; bring on the smooth, concrete shores instead of the old and ragged cliffs! Romanticism is dead; the continents of the future will be outlined with clean straight lines and re-shaped into conic sections and rhombuses; the old geological must be replaced with a world of geometry. In short, there was once again a new trend that was to be the thing of the future, a new aesthetic sensation and new cultural manifestoes; anyone who failed to join in with the rise of salamandrism before it was too late felt bitterly that he had missed his time, and he would take his revenge by making calls for the purity of mankind, a return to the values of the people and nature and other reactionary slogans. A concert of tritone music was booed off the stage in Vienna, at the Salon des Indépendents in Paris a pelagic painting called Capriccio en Bleu was slashed by an unidentified perpetrator; salamandrism was simply victorious, and its ri

A lidé poslouchají, aby nemusili mluvit, nebo mluví, aby nemusili poslouchat;

When precision reigns, human law reigns, God's law reigns, the law of the universe reigns — -everything reigns that should. The timetable is greater than the Gospels, greater than Homer, greater than all of Kant. The timetable is the most perfect manifestation of the human intellect. Mrs. Helena, I'll pour myself another.

Hayata tahammül edecek gücümüz olmazdı, eğer hiç durmadan onun büyük bir parçasını silip atıyor olmasaydık.

Да държиш огъня в ръцете си — какви нови възможности разкрива това пред нас! Ще посоча само наслуки: ние ще бъдем в състояние да опожарим реколтата на противника, да запалим маслинените му гори и така нататък. С огъня, господа, ние, хората, получаваме нова сила и ново оръжие; с огъня ние ставаме почти равни на боговете — шепнеше Антиметей, но внезапно избухна. — Аз обвинявам Прометей, че той е дал божествената и непреодолима стихия — огъня, на пастирите и робите, на всеки случаен минувач; аз го обвинявам в това, че той не е поверил огъня в ръцете на компетентни лица, които, владеейки го, биха го пазили като истинско държавно съкровище.

Dnes se mi na mém postavení snad nejvíc líbí, že s sebou nemusím nosit žádné peníze; já nemám v kapsách nic než kousek tužky, nevím ani, jak naše peníze vypadají.

Očevi obično ne žele da njihovi sinovi rade nešto drugo u odnosu na njih; moj Bože, i ja sam bio takav prema svojim sinovima. Očinstvo je inače nekakav izmiješan osjećaj; u njemu je velika ljubav, ali i neka opsjednutost, nepovjerenje, neprijateljstvo ili ne znam kako bih to rekao; što otac više voli svoju djecu, to je u njemu više i onoga drugog osjećaja.