Technology and comfort - having those, people speak of culture, but do not have it. - Thomas Mann

A human being lives out not only his personal life as an individual, but also, consciously or subconsciously, the lives of his epoch and his contemporaries

One could say that someone who does nothing but wait is like a glutton whose digestive system processes great masses of food without extracting any useful nourishment. One could go further and say that just as undigested food does not strengthen a man, time spent in waiting does not age him.

Wagner's art is the most sensational self-portrayal and self-critique of German nature that it is possible to conceive.