Isaiah Berlin Quotations

One must look at what impiety hates, what puts it in a rage, what it attacks always, everywhere, and with fury - that will be the truth.

When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.

The desire not to be impinged upon, to be left to oneself, has been the markof high civilisation both on the part of individuals and communities.

When one is engaged in a desperate defense of one's world and its values, nothing can be given away, any breach in the walls might be fatal, every point must be defended to the death.

We are doomed to choose and every choice may entail irreparable loss.

Life may be seen through many windows, none of them necessarily clear or opaque, less or more distorting than any of the others.

No perfect solution is, not merely in practice, but in principle, possible in human affairs, and any determined attempt to produce it is likely to lead to suffering, disillusionment and failure.

The underlying assumption that human nature is basically the same at all times, everywhere, and obeys eternal laws beyond human control, is a conception that only a handful of bold thinkers have dared to question.

Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience.

Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.