It made him feel as a wound does that you think you cannot bear. But you can bear anything, he thought.

Here's the reason why the peasant is wise. He's wise because he's beaten from the very start. Give him power and then you'll see how wise he is.

But, then, nothing is easy.

But why must all the operations in life be performed without an anesthetic?

It is in defeat that we become Christian.

Keep your head clear and know how to suffer like a man. Or a fish.

Keep your head clear and know how to suffer like a man. Or a fish, he thought.

I think you have more fun as a human being even though it is much more painful.

Belmonte was no longer well enough. He no longer had his greatest moments in the bull-ring. He was not sure that there were any great moments. Things were not the same and now life only came in flashes.

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills.

When you have an interior life, it certainly doesn't matter what side of the prison fence you're on.... I've already died a thousand times in a thousand concentration camps. I know everything. There is no new information to trouble me. One way or another, I already know everything. And yet, I find this life beautiful and rich in meaning. At every moment.

Does adversity build character? . . . It does not. Almost all people can stand adversity of one sort or another. If you want to test a person's character, give him power.